Raze The Stray
by TwoZeroTwo
Summary: A new mission for Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown takes her off-planet to track down a former TSAB officer who killed his Captain. However, with his life on the line, her target won't go down without giving everything to survive. OC heavy and also COMPLETE. Set after StrikerS.
1. Day 483

**Author's Notes:**

Okay! To all the people who saw this 140,000 word story just appear out of nowhere: Hello, I'm TwoZeroTwo, and this is my story "Raze The Stray". I originally had it with an M rating as I released it, partly because of some story things but mostly because I was terrified of how many people would see it if it had a lower rating. I'm still a bit scared, but whatever, I'm letting it rip! It's out of the beta, you could say. So enjoy, everyone. It is fairly niche, but if you like it, then that's what counts. And I will own up to the fact that this had a different name before I finished it. I changed that to make it more accessible. I started it out waaaay too niche. But now it's going to stay as this. Hopefully.

**Warning**: this story will be about 95% Original characters and locations. Enforcer Fate T Harlaown is a big part of the story, but there will be many people that I have invented. She converges more and more into the main plot as it goes along, if you're worried about that.

A little explanation: I love the ideas behind the world of the Nanoha series. The TSAB, barrier jackets, talking weapons with multiple forms, etc. That magic is just a regular part of everyone's daily lives, and that there are hundreds of planets out there where pretty much anything could happen. So, what started as a standard "Nanoha and the gang encounter BLANK" story slowly became more and more original as I thought it through, but it never broke away from the workings of this universe. Everything (hopefully) plays by the MGLN rules, with hopefully like a maximum 10% margin of error on my part, but most of this will be taking place far from Midchilda and Earth. Also, this story won't have any ancient inter-dimensional evils threatening to destroy everything that's held dear, or anything super huge like that. This story really isn't just to create a super cool OC or whatnot - there are a lot of things regarding this universe that I felt like bringing up or expanding on, such as how the citizens and officers of a planet that wasn't Midchilda would act and see things. Ok, maybe it is a more 'serious' take on things, but it's really not 'dark and edgy' so don't worry there.

Also, despite this being mostly OCs, I hate overpowered 'perfect' OCs just as much as the rest of you. I will tell you right now (and going by the reviews, I did a good job) that my main guy IS NOT one of those. There is no OCxCC romance, don't worry, and I would not at all want to be him at any point in this story. Because he's kind of in a bad place. A really bad place. There's a countdown timer on his head.

Anyways, I know what it's like to just start glossing over a 10,000 word chapter, so I made sure none of my chapters passed that (without becoming a two-parter). Sometimes, when I find a long, in progress story, I skip to a random chapter to see what it ends up like once it gets going. If you do something similar, and you caught this story as it's nearing the end or as it's done, I'd recommend going to chapter 7, "The Long Procession" and trying that. It's much more self-contained than the other chapters, and I feel like my writing had gotten "all-in" by that point. As someone who gets daunted at the sheer amount of WORDS I sometimes find in an ongoing story, anything to help interested readers pick this story up is good.

So now that more people can see it, I'd like your feedback. I hope you enjoy this, because I enjoyed writing it. And of course I enjoy it when people enjoy it. If you want more canon-character stuff, it'll come. This was just, like, the main thing I really wanted to do.

Oh, one final final thing:

"Dialogue like this" - normal spoken

"_Italicized like this_"- telepathic communication

[**WORDS LIKE THIS**] - A device is saying that

* * *

_So brave in the face of all these roots that ruin  
to stand so tall when in fact in ruins_

* * *

Planet: Administrated World #84: Siba  
City: Victamius  
Date: May 24th, 0076  
Time: 10:00 PM Siban Time

On the outskirts of the large city, a young man walked alongside a compound of buildings, checking to make sure he was alone. Along with watching the roads for any late-night drivers, he looked around cautiously, expecting an ambush. In his left hand was a bag with a strange military device inside, and in his right was a dark green sun-shaped gem that rested in his palm. Attached to it was a string that the young man had wrapped up around his right arm, making sure the gem would stay close to him. It was his protector - his device, his weapon, his main defense, and the only thing he knew he could always rely on. Bathory Kardenis kept a firm grip on the gem as he continued walking.

He knew that anyone driving by would think he looked suspicious. Everything about him at the moment just screamed 'tresspasser'. It didn't help that he really was trading stolen goods for money, but he hoped that he could just make the deal without anyone else seeing him and calling the cops.

He looked up at the buildings as he walked by them. On the front, above the large hangar door that was on the front of each one was the letter "B" and then a number in increasing order. The mage set his sights on the one marked B9 and headed towards it. Taking one last look at the road behind him, he climbed the fence surrounding the properties and crossed the parking lot.

Walking over to the right side of the building, he found the door that had been left unlocked for him, just as the buyer - some first-time client - had said he would do. Bathory opened the door, looked in at the dark hallways, and took a deep breath. If he was going to be ambushed, it would be in here, in the nearly pitch-black tunnels leading to the main room. He looked back to where he had been walking from and telepathically contacted his partner.

"_Yautja, I made it to the building. I don't think I was followed." _

"_I didn't see anything either. Go ahead with the deal_." Sitting in the driver's seat of a car parked far down the street from where Bathory was, Yautja Crawmer waited and watched for anyone coming to interrupt the trade.

Bathory turned back to the open door and stepped through it. He made sure the door shut quietly, and then walked cautiously through the halls. In the darkness, his senses were on full alert. He raised his right hand up and spoke to the green gem.

"Aphelion, light mode please."

[**UNDERSTOOD, MY MASTER]**

The gem glowed brightly and lit up the area around Bathory. He continued walking, grateful that now he could at least see in front of him. He turned back to the device.

"Also, be ready for immediate activation. You know that these things rarely go as they should."

He peeked around every corner before turning it, and held his right arm out towards every door he passed, but he ultimately made it without incident to the large storage room of the warehouse. Around the sides were various doors, including the main loading door on the left wall from where Bathory stepped out from. Back to the right were the storage shelves, stocked with large packages of all sorts of things. Right in front of him was open floor, and standing there was a single man around Bathory's age, packet of money in hand, staring him down. Bathory, still cautious, approached him.

"Orthrus?" Bathory asked as he walked forward.

"Yeah, that's me," the guy responded. "And you're, uh, you're Jet, right?"

"Yup," Bathory responded. He gave one last look in the bag he was carrying before handing it to Orthrus. "So here you go. Portable magic barrier, as you asked."

Orthrus took the bag and, reaching in it, pulled out the barrier generator. It had a flat white base on the bottom which reached up and shrunk in to a tip about ten inches from the base. Around the thinner neck, folded upwards, were three rods that would unfold and rotate around the device when it was activated. Orthrus held it in his right hand, taking a good close look at it. Bathory waited a few seconds before asking "Are you going to pay for it?"

Orthrus quickly turned back. "Oh yeah, uh, sorry, it's all here" he said as he handed the packet over. Bathory, somewhat relieved by the success of the deal, opened the packet and turned to count the money. He reached in the packet, pulled the stack out, and paused as he realized it was all counterfeit. Right after that, he heard a whirring sound, and watched as a cube of light blue energy raced past him and stopped around the building, enclosing the two of them in. He turned around slowly, and looked at the now-activated barrier generator lying on the ground, the three arms spinning about. A small round barrier shot out from the top of the device and enclosed it in its own shield.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Bathory, looking up at Orthrus. Staring back at him, held in the aggressor's hands, was an activated TSAB gauss staff that Orthrus no doubt stole for himself.

Bathory paused as he looked at the weapon. The gauss staff, in all its menacing glory, was definitely not for civilian use. Even if the user had low magic output, a single hit from the device on an unprotected mage would be very damaging. While still a step down from a personalized intelligent device like Aphelion, Bathory was not going against the cheap, mass-market devices that most part-time criminals had.

So, of course, when Orthrus fired at Bathory, the defender wasted no time bringing his right arm up and holding Aphelion in front of him.

[**PROTECTION**] it said as a triangular shield with circles around the three tips, the same color as Aphelion, appeared in front of Bathory, catching the blast. It slammed against the shield and caused an explosion, sending out a cloud of smoke that obscured the two mages from seeing each other. As the smoke cleared, Bathory stood there, undamaged.

"What the hell do you want," he asked Orthrus, raising his voice. "To just walk out with the generator without paying? Well, good job there," he remarked sarcastically. "Someone probably saw this thing go up, and the bureau is probably on their way."

Orthrus didn't seem to mind what Bathory said. "I'll get out of here long before they arrive."

"Really?" asked Bathory, angered that he couldn't get a single deal to go as planned. He lowered his voice. "You're already sure about that?"

"A generator for free? That doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

Bathory sighed. "You really have no idea what you just did" he remarked, before gripping Aphelion tightly and pulling his arm back down to his side. "Aphelion!" he shouted quickly. "Barrier Jacket combat form, device standard form. Go!"

He brought his right arm back up in front of him as he was engulfed in white light that completely covered him. A half-second later, Bathory reappeared in his barrier jacket. Above a basic black undershirt was a dark green shirt, and above that was a white long-sleeved jacket with dark green highlights running from the front, down and to the bottom of it, ending on the sides.

Aphelion had transformed around his right hand. The bottom of his arm, from his wrist almost up to his elbow was encased in a steel-colored mechanical weapon. Around his wrist, multiple firing chambers protruded outwards. On top of his left wrist, there was a steel-colored guard as well, though no part of the actual weapon was out there at the moment. Of course, the gem in the shape of the sun was displayed prominently on the weapon as well.

Bathory raised Aphelion to again point at Orthrus, who smirked again.

"Ooh, that would be a much better deal than the generator" said Orthrus, looking down at the weapon and then back up to Bathory.

"You're not the first to try to take it," said Bathory back. "And look, it's still with me."

"Yeah, that'll sell nicely" replied Orthrus. He fired the gauss staff at Bathory again, and another green triangle appeared to block the shot, kicking up another cloud of smoke. Orthrus fired multiple times into the smoke, hearing the blasts detonating on his opponent's shield again and again. As he fired another one, Bathory ran out of the smoke, returning fire. Bathory's device, built for close encounters, fired short and fast bursts of energy, like a shotgun. Orthrus held the gauss staff out horizontally in front of him and generated his own shield to protect himself before firing back as quickly as he could.

Bathory began to run to the side, dodging the shots instead. He knew Orthrus would just attack as often as possible, since they were effectively on a time limit now until the cops showed up. He decided he'd rather avoid the shots than try to block all of them. He smiled, thinking that Orthrus hadn't seen anything yet. Just because Bathory was a ground mage didn't mean he had to use his two feet to get around...

He yelled "Aphelion, activate Flight Driver!" as he dodged several rounds. A thin blade of energy stuck out from the right side of Aphelion, and another stuck out of the left side of the component on his left wrist. Bathory ducked and dragged the blade of energy connected to Aphelion against the ground, letting it cut into the floor. As it did, its master began to rocket off horizontally along the ground, leaving behind a radiant glowing line where Flight Driver had connected. Surprised, Orthrus quit firing for a bit, but resumed as he tried to predict where his target would go next.

As Bathory approached a wall, he kicked off the floor up at the wall, holding Aphelion vertically so its blade dug into the wall now. Just as before, he flew up the wall. He made a sharp turn to the left and rode sideways, dodging above and below Orthrus's shots. Keeping both eyes on Orthrus, Bathory contacted his partner again.

"_Yautja, the deal went bad. The guy activated the barrier and boxed us in_."

"_I can see _that," replied Yautja as he looked at the glowing barrier from down the street. "_And let me guess_," he said, "_He's attacking you. What weapon is he using_?"

Bathory didn't exactly know why Yautja asked that, but he responded anyways. "_He has a gauss staff_."

As Bathory rocketed across the ceiling, he dug the energy blade on his left wrist into it and he pulled Aphelion out to fire down at Orthrus. Orthrus kept his shield up constantly, continuing to block the shots. Though Bathory could tell his opponent's shield was becoming frailer, he worried he wouldn't have the time to subdue the other mage and get out of there before officers from the TSAB would arrive.

"_Wait, what was that_?" Yautja asked. "_What did you say he had_?"

"_A gauss staff, Yautja_," Bathory continued, gliding back along the floor, back by the rows of packed and stacked shelves. "_It's military equipment, something this guy really shouldn't- Aah_!"

Bathory watched as a shot came straight towards him. He had to block it. Though he raised his shield in time, the force knocked him out of Flight Driver, causing him to crash hard into one of the shelves. His vision blurred and his head screaming, he jumped up almost as if on autopilot and took off again. He could hear a voice over the rest of the noise, and as he recovered, Bathory realized that Yautja was frantically talking to him.

"_Bathory, are you alright_? _Come on; please respond if you can hear me_."

"_I'm okay_," Bathory responded. "_I'm fine, I'm fine, it's nothing too bad."_

Yautja was about to speak but froze as he heard sirens off in the distance. He paused, and in those seconds, he could tell the sirens were definitely sounding closer and closer.

"_Bathory, the bureau's coming. You need to get out of there._" Worried, he looked back and forth between the building, still encased in bright blue, and the horizon where the sirens filled the air.

"_Alright_," said Bathory. "_I'll get to it_." He paused for a moment and looked towards Orthrus. His attacks had weakened the shield even more, to where one concentrated attack could probably break it. Before he charged at Orthrus, one more thought crossed his mind.

"_Hey Yautja_," Bathory asked. _"Do you want me to recover the generator_?"

Yautja sat in his car with the engine turned on, ready to drive away from the warehouse. He paused a moment. "_No, destroy it_" he responded. "_Oh, actually_," he continued, "_steal this 'gauss staff' thing as well, if you can. Might as well recover something_."

"_Alright, understood_" said Bathory. Outside, Yautja turned out onto the main road, just seconds before several TSAB police cars, lights flashing, turned down the side road and headed for the building. Inside, Bathory flew across the walls over to the other side of the room, directly facing Orthrus. He stopped for a brief moment.

"Aphelion, set up a charged multi shot. Fire on my command."

[**UNDERSTOOD - BEGINNING TO CHARGE**]

As Aphelion readied the shots, Bathory pulled it off the ground and began to run at the other mage. Orthrus continued to fire, but panicked as Bathory raised his left arm up and the triangular shield blocked the attacks once again. Bathory knew he could block enough shots to get to his opponent, but every shot that exploded against his shield felt like a kick to his stomach. Still, he rushed forwards, and as Aphelion said it was done charging, Bathory swung his left arm to the side, lowering his shield and parting the smoke that had formed. In front of him was Orthrus, both hands holding the gauss staff tightly in front of him behind the weakened shield.

Bathory brought Aphelion up to face Orthrus. On the front end, all of the firing points were glowing brightly. As his left hand supported Aphelion, and as Orthrus shut his eyes tightly, Bathory yelled "Multi-Shot, FIRE!" and the heavy blast of energy tore through Orthrus's shield, causing him to lose his balance. He stumbled backwards, trying to regain his footing. As he did, Bathory dove back towards the floor, putting the energy blade back into the ground and shooting off towards the off-balance mage.

Orthrus finally gained his footing right before Bathory lunged into him, knocking him off his feet again. Bathory held on, and the momentum shot both of them back so they crashed into the main loading door of the warehouse. Bathory grabbed the staff with his left hand and tried to take it for himself. He tried pulling it out of the other mage's grasp, but Orthrus held on tight. As they struggled, the two could hear sirens right outside, TSAB mages beating at the barricade with all they had. Bathory knew he had to end this now. In one quick move, he pushed Aphelion into Orthrus's stomach and fired, causing his victim to double over in pain.

Bathory grabbed the staff for himself as Orthrus fell to his knees. The downed mage looked up at Bathory, who held the gauss staff in his left hand and Aphelion in his right. In that moment, Orthrus was sure that he was about to die. He tried to speak, to plead with Bathory not to kill him, but he could only gasp for air from the hit to the stomach.

Thankfully for him, Bathory had no intention of killing anyone. He aimed the gauss staff at the barrier generator, and fired at it. Three shots later, the shield on the device broke, and with a final shot, the device itself was destroyed. As the blue barrier dissipated, Bathory eyed a sewer grate on the floor a few feet from him, and ran towards it. He deactivated everything as he did - the gauss staff, his barrier jacket, and Aphelion. He lifted the grate, stepped in, and closed it behind him as Orthrus struggled to his feet.

Above, he could hear officers thrust open the main door and swarm the warehouse, no doubt delivering swift and immediate justice onto the one mage who was left up there. Bathory paused for a moment to catch his own breath and look at the deactivated gauss staff; its standby form was a long, thin cylinder about an inch wide and several inches tall. The mage just put it in his pocket as he walked through the sewer duct.

He walked away from the building and out towards the main roads. Just outside the building was another grate. Up above, he could hear Orthrus being dragged out towards the police cars, trying to talk his way out of a jail sentence.

"Please," he shouted, hoping the mages pushing him along would listen. "I... How about I tell you about the other guy! You know, give some details about him! Then you'd let me go, right?"

"Probably not," said a male mage that was forcing Orthrus into the back of a police car. "But go ahead and try. Maybe you might help yourself some after all."

"O...okay" said Orthrus. "He...his codename is Jet. It's Jet! Go look for someone around here with that. And he, uh, he's, like, my age. Is that enough?"

Bathory sighed. That wasn't much detail to go off of, but he kind of liked that nickname.

"So, please, can you look out for someone like that?" Orthrus asked. The mage by the car sighed and activated his radio. Bathory started walking down the sewer duct again.

"This is First Lieutenant Satel Moraine. All units be on the lookout for a young man aged twenty or so. He is also responsible for the incident just now, and should be apprehended if seen..."

Bathory traveled a good mile or so underground before deciding that he was far enough away to climb back to the surface. He located another grate, and used it to get out of the sewer. Looking around, he was again by the main roads, but no one was nearby from what he could see. He shivered, now back in the night chill, and he contacted Yautja again.

"_Hey Yautja, I'm out and I got the staff. Can we meet up_?"

"_Sure_," said Yautja, driving up and down the nearby roads. He looked around him. "_Uhh, where exactly are you_?"

Bathory looked around him as well, trying to find any landmarks. "_I'm, uhh, I'm around... Here, hang on, I'll be right with you_" he said, bring his right arm up to talk to Aphelion, which was once again resting in his hand, the cord wrapped around his arm.

"Aphelion," he said as he stood there. "Tell me my current location."

"_Oh wait wait, hold on_," remarked Yautja."_I think I see you_."

Bathory saw a car driving up the road at him and he watched it slow down, eventually stopping in front of him. He walked towards the car, and opened the passenger door to see Yautja Crawmer looking up at Bathory. He knew it was Yautja instantly from the bushy beard looking back that reached all the way up to his sideburns.

Despite his almost comical look, Yautja was a very serious man. As Bathory sat down and shut the passenger door, Yautja said "so let me see it."

"See wha- oh right." Bathory reached in his pocket for the staff. He pulled the cylinder out and placed it in the other man's waiting hand.

Yautja eyed it over, turning it to look at every part. "Doesn't look like much," he said, placing it in his own coat pocket.

"Yeah, well, people are going to want that," replied Bathory as Yautja looked forward and began driving. "I guarantee it. Probably for more that the barrier would go for, if you're worried about that."

"I don't mind," said Yautja. "To be honest, I knew the guy would do something stupid."

"What? How did you know?"

"That guy had been making a name for himself, doing things like that." Yautja didn't even break his view of the road ahead as he spoke. "And he made sure everyone knew it. So, when he wanted something I had, I sent you in to hopefully wipe him out."

Bathory turned towards Yautja. "So you're saying that you knew he'd attack me."

Yautja shrugged. "Pretty much."

Bathory closed his eyes and laughed. "So you sent me in knowing that all was going to happen."

Yautja finally looked over at Bathory. "Well, I didn't know he had the gauss staff, but there had to be a reason he kept getting away with that kind of thing. Taking it from him was a nice addition."

Even though he turned out to be a pawn again, Bathory couldn't help but respect Yautja for his plan. Yautja did interesting work, to say the least. In a city where no one could really trust anyone else, he offered his services as a sort of middleman to any 'underground' deals and transactions. He and his support would be an unbiased meeting point in the middle of the road, affiliated with no one and enemies of nobody. If there was something he thought would sell, like the portable barrier, he would buy it, but overall he did very little on his own as a supplier. He was a networker, basically, building himself up through pleasing both parties of a trade and making sure those trades go interrupted. Tonight, he had lost a portable barrier but got an unpleasant thorn out of the picture and gained a military weapon. It was considered a success.

"So," asked Bathory as the car turned onto the highway, "are we going back to your apartment?"

"Sure, why not?" remarked Yautja. Again, he looked straight forward as he spoke. "We'll see if anything else is available to do."

Bathory said that sounded good, and they continued in silence. After a while, Bathory looked at Yautja and spoke again.

"Is Efra going to be there?"

"Maybe. She has training tonight but it's really late night hours. She might still be home when we get there, though."

Bathory closed his eyes and groaned. If that was the case, he thought, he should start coming up with all the lies he'd have to tell now. Of course, only then did his head start pounding from the crash back in the warehouse. He groaned harder and Yautja looked over at him.

"What are you on about? This isn't nearly the worst thing you've had to explain."

"No, no, my head hurts" said Bathory, resting his forehead on the cold passenger window of the car.

Yautja looked back at the road. "Just get Efra to fix it up."

"I'm planning on it."

Bathory continued rubbing his forehead on the window, trying to relieve the pain as well as coming up with the web of lies he was going to tell. As he did that, Yautja continued driving. They sat in silence as the car went on.

* * *

Planet: Administrated World #1: Midchilda  
City: Cranagan  
Date: May 24th, 0076  
Time: 11:30 AM Midchildan Time

Far away from Siba, across galaxies and light-years, a woman sat in a large reception room, reading through her case briefing. Her black Enforcer uniform was spotless, her device was at one hundred percent, and her stylist sitting in the next chair over was making sure that everything looked well for whatever planetary government she would be meeting. Nanoha fixed one last strand of hair that kept trying to branch off on its own and then scooted back to admire her craftsmanship.

"Perfect!"

Still looking down at the screen projected from her device, Fate T. Harlaown smiled widely at the instructor's enthusiasm. "Thank you, Nanoha" she said.

Once again curious as to what Fate was reading, Nanoha scooted back in and leaned over, intruding on the Enforcer's space. "Fate?" she asked, "what will you be doing?"

"Locating and tracking down a wanted criminal" Fate responded. As Nanoha kept leaning further over, Fate tilted the screen so the brown-haired woman couldn't see it. "And anything past that is classified." As Nanoha righted herself, Fate looked over at her like this was a familiar behavior from the brunette. "For my eyes only."

"Aww, Fate?" asked Nanoha, giving her housemate the puppy-dog-eyes look. "But you won't be back tonight. Or tomorrow night!"

"Or the next week or two" corrected Fate.

"You know I want to know what you're doing" said Nanoha. "I don't want you to start disappearing."

"Then call me tonight if you need to. Or if it seems like Vivio needs to." Fate chuckled again, thinking that of the two of them, it probably would be Nanoha who'd need her. After Fate finished her sentence, Bardiche glowed and began to speak.

[**INCOMING MESSAGE RECEIVED, SIR - YOU MAY NOW PROCEED WITH THE MISSION**]

Fate stood up, and Nanoha was quick to follow as the two of them headed over to the transport room. They walked side by side, and the Enforcer looked over at the instructor. "Nanoha," she consoled, "it won't be a long one. Just enough for you and Vivio to work out any final parts of being a family."

The two stopped in front of the doors to the teleportation chambers, and Fate now leaned in towards Nanoha, meeting the wide blue eyes with her own. "I promise that it won't feel as long as you think it will. And," she continued, anticipating the question, "I will be back safe and sound."

Nanoha just nodded her head, though she seemed a bit sad still. "Well..." she said, then suddenly bounced back with enthusiasm as she pumper her arm into the air. "Good luck, Fate! Go get 'em!"

Fate smiled widely and laughed again, but as she turned back around and headed into the Dimensional Transfer Room, she performed her own sudden change of emotions and her face became dead serious. Her mind was focused on the job ahead now.

Inside the room was a team of operators monitoring several consoles in front of the three empty transfer pods. The head operator turned to greet her.

"Enforcer Harlaown, could you step into the middle pod, please?"

Fate followed the directions, stepping up into the transfer pod. Each pod was big enough to hold a team of people, but this time, only one person would be transported. Fate looked past the workers on the consoles and back to the door to see Nanoha looking through a clear window in the door and waving at Fate. Fate let her visage change again smiled back at the instructor.

"Alright," said the head operator, reading over the summary console. "Enforcer Harlaown is to be sent to Administrated World Number 84, Planet Siba, into the Siba Capital TSAB transport station. Enforcer, please confirm."

Fate again returned to her serious mode. "Confirmed," she replied sharply, "that is correct."

"Okay," said the head operator, "begin the transport process now."

Fate watched as a solid grey wall closed down, blocking the opening that she stepped through and sealing the space shut. As soon as everything was sealed, a countdown appeared on a screen in front of Fate. It began at 5, and as it counted down to 1, Fate felt magic filling the pod and assisting in making the jump. As the countdown hit zero, Fate closed her eyes and felt a surge of energy as she was transferred across space to the planet Siba. When she opened them, she was inside an enclosed pod that looked the same as the one in Midchilda, but the grey wall opened up to reveal a new set of faces in front of her.


	2. The Siban Way

Planet: Siba  
City: Siba Capital  
Time: 2:45 PM Siban Time

Fate stepped out of the receiver pod. In the new Dimensional Transfer Room was, again, a team of operators in front of the same types of consoles. Standing in front of Fate, however, was a large, tall, dignified man. His posture was perfect and his blue coat displaying his rank nicely. He looked to be in his late 40s at the youngest, and spoke in a powerful voice as Fate approached him.

"Enforcer Harlaown, good to have you with us." He reached his right hand out, and Fate shook it firmly. His display badge attached to the breast of his coat showed his rank and name, but Fate knew who he was already from the briefing she received.

"General Parkensine. It's an honor, sir" replied Fate. In her jobs, she had often worked with high-ranking officers, but this was the first time that a general had asked to directly assist and partake in a mission of hers.

"Thank you for taking our case," said Parkensine as he put his arms behind his back. "It's not often that we get an enforcer as well-regarded as you to assist on our planet."

Fate blushed professionally, if that was even possible. "Thank you, sir" she said as she gave a slight bow.

"Now, if you will follow me, we will proceed to the main briefing" said Parkensine, turning around and walking out of the room. Fate walked next to him. As the two entered the halls of the Siba Capital TSAB Headquarters, Fate looked out of the window on her left to see the large, modern city that sprawled out in front of her. While Siba was nowhere near as big as Midchilda, and while this city couldn't even approach the size of Cranagan, it was still impressive nonetheless.

Parkensine caught her looking outside. "Welcome to Siba," he said as they continued walking. "Proud practitioner of Modern Belka, we offer some of the finest, toughest, strongest warriors that you will ever see. We boast one of the highest ratios of military to civilian sizes across all planets, and we push our recruits to their fullest potentials. You will not find anyone as hardened as a Siban."

Fate took in Parkensine's speech as she looked around at the many soldiers inside the complex, and noticed the vast majority of them wearing the brown uniform of the TSAB Ground Forces. She racked her brain trying to remember if she had ever encountered someone from Siba before. She decided that if she had, she didn't know the person was one. What she had heard about Siba, though, was about its high crime and large black markets that existed almost everywhere. She thought about how to word that to still compliment the general that was walking next to her.

"I've heard many good things about your mages here," she decided to say. "They have done their very best to control the widespread crime that hits your planet."

General Parkensine became deathly serious. "We do have quite the epidemic on our hands, one that doesn't seem to die. That's why we make our mages as fierce and as ruthless as possible. We are a planet threatened, but also forged, by these fires."

"And that is the reason behind Siba's unforgiving sentencing terms?" asked Fate, looking now at Parkensine. "You also have some of the highest mandatory fines and prison terms in the administrated planets."

Parkensine was now aggravated. Was she, an enforcer, questioning his policies? "We scorch the weeds and make sure they never grow back. That's the way you do it. You cut them down until none dare to even grow. Only then will crime be rid from these cities."

It may have been because she had been around the Midchildan way of treating criminals for ten years, and it may have been because the compassion of others almost literally saved her life, but Fate disagreed strongly with Parkensine then. She knew, however, not to compromise the mission before it even began.

"And I believe you can succeed, General" she remarked. Parkensine affirmed that he has full faith in the Siban Armed Forces to control and subdue the crime waves. As the two turned down one last hallway, an open door at the far end let to the main briefing room. A man held it open as Fate and Parkensine entered the room, and closed it behind them. Inside it was a long, thin table in the shape of an oval with chairs pushed in around it. On top of the table was a tall holographic screen that was currently blank. The General walked over to the far side of the table, and the Enforcer moved opposite from him, looking up at the screen. Parkensine brought up a computer terminal, and brought the TSAB profile of Fate's target onto the screen.

"This is your target, Enforcer; Corporal Bathory Kardenis, 19 years old, AA rank, former member of the Siban Ground Armed Forces Battalion 1097, and of the elite first-response unit Breach Team 03." As Parkensine said that, Fate looked over the profile in front of her. At the top left was a picture of Bathory; dressed in the standard uniform, he was looking sternly and powerfully at the camera. Next to the picture was basic information about him - his date of birth, his height, his rank, the name of his registered intelligent device and its serial number, and a list of his main spells with ranks given for each one's power, range, and casting speed. Down below was a list of what battalions and teams he had been on in his military career. Just like the General had said, at the top of the list was the line "Breach Team 03".

On the screen, the picture changed from Bathory's profile to a full-body picture of him in his barrier jacket, with Aphelion in its standard weapon form around Bathory's right arm. There were multiple views of him from the front, back, and both sides, as well as multiple pictures of Aphelion alone taken at various angles. After Fate looked at that, the picture changed to the official message detailing Bathory's crime. Parkensine began to speak as Fate looked over the message.

"For over a year now, Bathory has been wanted for the murder of Captain Marcus Shuftan. Marcus overlooked Breach Team 03, and was in direct command of the team. On a mission at the Grand Meridian hotel to recover a case of live weapons, Bathory used one to shoot Captain Shuftan multiple times in the chest, killing him. When we tried to take Bathory into custody, he escaped and went on the run. We have come close to apprehending him several times before, but he just keeps evading us."

The picture on the screen now shifted to a two-dimensional overview of Siba. Major cities such as Siba Capital were marked on the map by large black dots. A red line shot out from the dot marked Siba Capital to another dot marked "Hallcrest". After it hit that dot, the red line continued to expand, pushing further and further to the east.

"That line marks the path Bathory has taken in the last sixteen months" said Parkensine. He continued to talk as Fate watched it keep going from one dot to the next. "We'll receive evidence of his current location, we'll rush in to apprehend him, and he'll escape again and run off somewhere else. Then it'll be another month or two of waiting until we get another chance."

As he finished, Fate watched as the red line ended at a dot marked "Damier". Parkensine looked at her and spoke again.

"Two months ago, we approached Bathory in the city of Damier and he escaped, once again. We don't know where he's gone to now, but he should pop up again soon." The General began to walk around the table to stand next to Fate. As he did so, he kept talking. "That is why we have asked for the best enforcer we could get. I'm tired of him getting away. I want you to track him down and get this over with once and for all."

"I understand, sir" said Fate. "I will begin immediately." She waited now for Parkensine to dismiss her. Instead, he began to speak.

"Enforcer," he said, as his voice seemed to be caught in his throat, "when Bathory killed Captain Shuftan, he impacted many people. His squad mates never recovered, the team dissolved and shattered, and he brought upon him hate from everyone who knew the Captain, and wondered how something so terrible could happen to such a great man..."

Fate could see the sadness on Parkensine's face, but he carried on. "Marcus was one of the best men I have ever known. His leadership was absolutely unmatched by any others of his rank. No sane person could ever find anything to detest about him. He was a perfect example of what a mage should be." Parkensine placed his left hand on Fate's right shoulder and looked into her eyes. "I need you to catch Bathory. You need to drive him into the ground for what he's done. I will accept nothing less from you."

Fate stayed professional, but felt sympathy for the general beside her. "I will find and apprehend him, sir. I guarantee you."

Parkensine patted Fate on the shoulder and smiled. "You are to begin gathering data and interviewing those who may know where Bathory is. We will transfer a list to your device soon. You are dismissed" he said, turning around and moving to the exit door.

"Sir," Fate called out, "is there anyone in this city who I could speak to now about Bathory? Are any of his former squad mates available?"

The man stopped and turned back. He thought for a bit. "I don't know if you could find many people, but there is a team mate here who you could talk to. I don't know how much you could get from him - he seems to have lost his mind after the incident."

Fate paused a bit, but then said "Well, if I can, I'd like to talk to him anyways."

Parkensine sighed. "Okay then, his name is Arin Vesceron. He now works down at the loading and unloading bay of the main TSAB complex. He should be there now."

"Thank you, sir" said Fate as Parkensine turned again and left, heading back to his office. Fate left the room as well, asking for directions to the loading bay. She was told that they were on the far left part of the ground floor of the building. Fate took an elevator down to the ground floor and began the trek over to her destination. As she walked, she looked up this team mate of Bathory's on a screen that she projected out of her device and was surprised by what she found.

Fate looked at Arin's TSAB profile. Corporal Arin Vesceron, it read, AA Minus rank, 77 inches tall, and also a former member of Breach Team 03. His profile picture caught the Enforcer's eye. Unlike Bathory, who was serious in his picture, Arin had a wide smirk on his face, almost daring Fate to try and stand up to him. She wondered exactly what happened for a powerful mage in an elite unit to now have a job at a loading bay. Maybe he was put in charge of handling dangerous, volatile packages like recovered relics or such. She hoped something like that would be the case.

Fate arrived at the loading bay and walked out into it. There were trucks delivering and transporting all kinds of TSAB goods, like training weapons, computers, materials for renovations, etc. Fate approached a man who she assumed to be the director. Instead of everyone else's orange vests, his was a bright yellow. Fate waited until he looked like he was available, and approached him.

"Excuse me, sir" said Fate, catching his attention. He turned to face her, and make an over the top reaction to seeing her black uniform.

"Whoa hoa hoa, an Enforcer!" he said. He jammed his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans as he eyed Fate up and down and continued talking. "Been a long time since anyone like you come around to my yard. Tell me, what can I do you for?"

Fate chose not to react to that. "I'm looking for someone who works here. His name is Arin Vesceron, do you know if he's here right now?"

"Ohh, yeah yeah, he's here" said the director. He turned around, put his hands up to the sides of his mouth, and shouted. "HEY ARIN, COME OVER HERE, SOMEONE WANTS TO TALK TO YA!"

A few seconds later, a tall, lanky man came out from behind a parked truck, wearing an orange vest. As the figure approached Fate, she began to wonder about Arin again. So he went from being an elite ground forces officer to working this type of job? Fate tried to imagine herself or Nanoha stepping down to work at a loading dock, or maybe Signum, or -good lord- even Erio or Caro deciding to do so. She would smack some sense back into their heads so quickly if that were the case. As Arin walked up to the director and her, Fate noticed the completely blank expression on his face, as well as a limiter connected to his leg peeking out from below his work pants. Fate figured that Arin had to have done something illegal himself, and this was the only work he could now get.

"Hey Arin," the director said as he motioned at Fate, "this lovely woman would like to talk with you for a bit. Be nice, polite, and answer her questions, okay?" he asked as he slapped Arin on the back and walked off. Fate craned her neck up to make eye contact with Arin, who seemed to tower above her.

"Good afternoon Arin, my name is Fate T. Harlaown. I'm an Enforcer for the TSAB. I'd just like to ask you a few questions now for an investigation that I'm currently doing."

As she said this, Arin didn't move or respond. The only reason Fate knew he was even alive was that he would blink. Other than that, he was still.

Fate waited for a response. When none came, she tried again. "So is that okay with you, if I ask you some things? Is this a bad time?"

"Go ahead" said Arin. Startled, Fate waited to see if he'd say any more, but it was just those two words hanging in the air.

Fate smiled, still a little flustered. "So you used to be active in the ground forces, and you were on a team called Breach Team 03. Is that correct?"

"Correct."

Fate raised her hand containing Bardiche. She looked at the screen that was projected from the device, still detailing Arin's TSAB profile. "And you were on Breach Team 03, along with your two partners, from when it was originally formed to when it disbanded. Correct?"

"Correct."

Fate still couldn't believe how emotionally flat Arin was. He was nothing like Fate thought he would be from his picture. Still, she pressed on.

"Alright. Arin, I'm leading the investigation on your former team mate Bathory Kardenis. As you know, he is wanted for the murder of your guys' captain. In the time between that incident and now, has Bathory ever tried to conta-"

Almost like a switch flipped in his head, Arin raised his eyes and began screaming at Fate.

"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT BATHORY. HE'S HORRIBLE, WORTHLESS, FUCKING GARBAGE!"

Fate backed away in fear, looking around as the other workers stopped what they were doing to see what the commotion was. As she backed up, Arin pushed forwards, trying to get in her face.

"Arin, please, I am trying to bring Bathory to justice," Fate said, hoping that the tall, menacing man would calm down. "If there is anything you could tell me that could help the case..."

"He is the worst thing to ever happen to me!" Arin shouted. "I don't want to hear his name, I don't want to see his face, and I don't want anything to do with him anymore. He's ruined everything for me! Everything, EVERY SINGLE THING about this is his fault!"

Fate's stomach dropped as she backed into a wall. With nowhere to run, her hand gripped tightly around Bardiche. She really didn't want to have to attack the man, but she had no idea how far his new-found rage would take him. Thankfully, Fate watched as two officers - no doubt his 'guards' - came up to him, grabbed him by both arms and began pulling him away. They moved over to the door that Fate had used to enter the dock, opened it, and dragged the still-screaming Arin through, his voice growing fainter as the door closed again.

Fate's heart raced as she stepped away from the wall and everyone got back to work. She wondered if maybe she'd be better off just heading to her provided hotel room and working from there. As she stood still, an older woman wearing the orange workers jacket walked up to her.

"I'm sorry about that," the woman apologized. She held Fate's hand in hers. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Fate, still catching her breath. "I'm okay."

"Yeeeaaaahhhh," the woman muttered, looking over to the door that Arin was taken through. "He usually sticks to himself, and he's so quiet most of the time. Mention a certain thing or two though, and he goes crazy. You know, the bureau has those people to monitor him all the time as well. It's weird, but they don't want him doing what Kaisa did."

Fate looked at the woman, confused. "Who is Kaisa?" she asked.

"Ooohhhhh, they didn't tell you?" the woman responded. Fate shook her head. "Oh, okay, see, this girl, Kaisa - uhh - Kaisa Ellen, that's it, this girl Kaisa was also on the same team as Arin and Bathory."

"Breach Team 03?"

"Yeah, it was the three of them and then the captain. So anyways, Bathory kills the captain, he goes on the run, and from what I heard, Kaisa and Arin just flip out. I don't know if they were traumatized, or what, but about a month later, Kaisa attacks the headquarters and tries to kill General Parkensine."

"That's horrible," replied Fate. "What happened to her?"

The other woman shifted a bit. "Parkensine had to retaliate. Tragic, it really was. Anyways, so after that I guess they need to make damn sure that Arin doesn't do something stupid as well." The woman shook her head and began to mumble. "...so weird, never thought that would happen..."

"What was that?" Fate asked.

The other woman looked over at Fate again. "Well, I been here for quite a while now, and I remember that team being all over the news for all the good things they'd done. You wouldn't think any of what happened to em was gonna, well, happen to em. Such a shame..."

"Well, thanks for that. I'll keep in in mind," said Fate. She bid goodbye and began to travel to her hotel room. As she did so, she thought about what the woman had said and how Arin acted. She wondered if Bathory was going to be as crazy or as unstable as his team mates became.

* * *

City: Victamius  
Time: 11:15 PM

Yautja and Bathory pulled in to the parking garage located by the Crawmer apartment. After Yautja parked, the two got out of the car and walked over to the elevators. They called one down, got in it, and traveled up to the third floor. Inside the elevator, Bathory was still weaving a new web of lies.

"So you're sure Efra will be there?" he asked.

"Probably just for a few minutes," answered Yautja. "Like I said, she's got really late-night training tonight. Come on, bear with it."

"Alright," said Bathory, having given in. The elevator door opened, and the two walked over to the entrance to Yautja's place. Yautja unlocked the door, and opened it. The two of them stepped in to the front entrance. From one of the back rooms, Bathory heard footsteps, and watched as Yautja's sister, Efra Crawmer, came into view.

"Yautja!" she said excitedly as she saw him. "THANUS!" she screamed even more excitedly as she saw the other man. As Efra ran up to hug him, Bathory got in the right mindset. As long as Efra was nearby, he was Thanus Shia, currently active member of the Victamius ground forces.

"Efra, how's it going?" asked 'Thanus', trying to peel her off of him.

"Great, great," replied Efra. "Oh I'm so happy to see you, even if it's not for much longer."

"Going out to do more training, I hear?" asked Bathory, earnestly interested.

"Yup. After tonight, I only need eight more hours to qualify for the exam."

Bathory smiled. "You'll be an official bureau mage in no time."

"I know! It's so exciting," Efra said, finally letting Bathory go. She motioned towards the couch and asked him to take a seat. As Yautja used the kitchen, Bathory sat down on the couch and Efra sat down next to him.

"So, Thanus, what new and exciting things have you been doin- oh wait, earlier tonight there was an attack at a warehouse. The guys had a portable barrier and everything. Were you there?"

Bathory laughed as he began. "Yeah, we got the call that something was going on. I showed up pretty quickly, and we all just tried to get the barrier down as soon as we could. Once we did that, a bunch of us rushed in there to break up the fight."

Efra was enthralled in the story. "Were you attacked?" she asked.

"Of course," replied Bathory. "We ran in there, and they fired at us. We fired back at them, and it was a fairly intense standoff, but ultimately we broke it up."

"And you only got one of them, right? Someone else there got away?"

Bathory was always surprised by how in-depth she stayed regarding anything with the TSAB. He exhaled and continued. "Yeah, one of them slipped away from us. We got the other guy pretty good though. Speaking of, while I was fighting, I got hit on the head pretty good, and, uh, it kinda hurts."

"Let me see," exclaimed Efra as she moved closer. She pushed his hair up off his forehead like she was his mother, and saw a deep red bump hiding below. "Ooh," said Efra, "that looks nasty."

"Any chance you could really quickly heal that?"

"Ha!" shouted Efra, putting the fingers of her right hand around the bruise. "I've got just what you need."

She focused on channeling her magic down into Bathory. Her fingertips began to glow as her magic quickly subdued the pain in Bathory's head. After a few seconds, the headache was gone. She pulled back and released her hand as her patient smiled.

"Thank you very much, Efra."

"No problem," she said before checking the time. Startled, she jumped up and quickly went over to where her coat was. She quickly spoke as she got ready to leave.

"Well, thanks for visiting us, sorry that I have to run now. Maybe you'll come by again soon?"

"Sure, why not."

Efra thanked 'Thanus' for stopping by one more time, and then rushed out the door to get to her training. Bathory watched the door close, and then turned to Yautja as he walked back in to the living room with a bowl of reheated food.

"She really doesn't know I'm a fugitive, doesn't she?"

"Not a clue," answered Yautja.

"And she really doesn't know you're not a freelance networker."

"Well, in a way, I am," said Yautja as he handed Bathory some money for his efforts. "Get yourself another jacket. You look like you're freezing." Yautja sat down at a desk in the living room and got on his computer.

"Is there anything new in?" asked Bathory.

"That's why I'm getting on. Wait a bit," said Yautja as the computer turned on. He accessed his message list and checked for anything new. "Oh, here we go," he exclaimed. "Rorcal has the bags of blacktongue ready to pick up at any time. Want to do that tomorrow morning?"

Bathory thought a bit. "Uhh, who is Rorcal again?"

"He's the guy with the red supercar. You know, the really expensive one."

"Oh yeah, now I know," said Bathory, remembering the car. He couldn't remember at all what the guy looked like, but he sure remembered the guy's fancy car.

"So, tomorrow morning, maybe 10 AM or so? Could you do that?"

"Sure." Bathory got up and left the apartment. Walking down the stairs and over to an exit, Bathory hesitated as he realized he'd have to brave the cold all night in just a basic shirt. He thought about going back and asking Yautja if he could borrow a coat, but he decided not to. He could probably get through the night just fine using his magic.

With that, he stepped out into the chilly night. Holding Aphelion, Bathory looked down at the green gem. "Aphelion, channel heat," he said.

[**CONVERTING LINKER CORE ENERGY TO HEAT**] replied the device. It became to glow, and as it did, Bathory felt warmth all across his skin. Happy, he continued walking over to his temporary hideout.

[**EXCUSE ME, MY MASTER**] said Aphelion. Bathory looked down at the device again.

"What is it, Aphelion?"

[**IN TONIGHT'S BATTLE, IT TOOK YOU 0.2 PERCENT MORE MANA TO FIRE EACH SHOT THAN BEFORE**]

Bathory sighed. "And a couple days ago, you said I was only operating at 90 percent of my total potential." Aphelion quickly did the math.

[**MASTER, YOU ARE OPERATING AT ONLY 89.82 PERCENT EFFICIENCY**]

"Well, what can I do, Aphelion? I know you want me to stop for a while, and you know that I can't do that."

[**I AM SIMPLY WORRIED FOR YOU - I DON'T WANT YOU TO BECOME TOO WEAK TO CONTINUE**]

Bathory raised his voice. "Well I'm still here. I'm still alive. I'm not going to just keel over one day. I will last as long as I can. You know that." Bathory reached his hideout, which was just a well-worn mattress hidden behind a dumpster in an alleyway. He laid down on it and stared up at the night sky.

"I'll try to get as much rest as I can, ok Aphelion?" Bathory asked as he rolled over. "Wake me up by 10 tomorrow if I'm not already up. And make sure to tell me when Yautja calls for me."

[**UNDERSTOOD, MY MASTER**]

As he did most nights, Bathory lied down and closed his eyes in a dirty, dingy place, far from the comfort and protection that he wished he could have back. It was in these moments, when he should be sleeping, that his mind began to race with memories that he couldn't let go. Of course, he first went back to that moment in the hotel, when his captain keeled over from bullet wounds to his chest, horror on his face. Bathory remembered as Captain Shuftan fell backwards, releasing his grip on Kaisa. Even in the alleyway, he began tearing up as he turned his focus over to her. He missed everything about her. There was more that he missed than just her beaming smile and her company on the team next to him. He missed how he felt when she was around, and the overwhelming love the two of them shared. 'She was everything to me', he thought as he fired the gun again in his mind. 'I didn't want anything to happen to her'! And, of course, then he remembered her final moments, as he watched an empty, corrupted version of the girl he knew retaliating blindly out of her own desperation. 'I caused that, he thought, I caused her to do that. It's all because of me. I caused that. It's my fault. It's my fault and I can never have her back, no matter what...'

[**MASTER, YOU ARE THINKING THOSE THOUGHTS AGAIN**]

Aphelion jolted Bathory back to the present. He sighed, and rolled over. "I know, I know. I'm sorry," he said, responding to his device. Ever since the incident, he often kept himself awake for far too long revisiting the horrible moments of the past. They began consuming him as he found it harder to carry on than before. Thus, on many nights, when Aphelion could tell that Bathory was lying there, restless, it took it upon itself to snap Bathory out of it.

[**REMEMBER THAT ****YOU NEED TO REST AS MUCH AS YOU CAN**]

"Okay," mumbled Bathory, closing his eyes again and trying to keep a clear mind. Shortly afterwards, he allowed himself to fall asleep as Aphelion watched.

The whole night, Aphelion kept a close watch on Bathory, ready to wake him at any disturbance. Even if Bathory would disagree with his device sometimes, both knew how inseparable the two of them were. As Bathory slept, Aphelion quietly discontinued channeling heat for Bathory. He began to shiver, but his linker core began to recharge. He would wake up cold, but he would have just that much more energy and ammunition at his disposal.


	3. A Boy Named Murder

**Quick author's notes: **Welcome welcome if you're past those. Yeah, the first few chapters of anything always have to set the most things up, don't they? Well, this is really the first meaty chapter of the story. Yautja and Bathory get more action (no not like that) and the rest of the 'main people' are introduced.

* * *

May 25th, 0076

At ten o'clock the next morning, Bathory walked into the parking garage by Yautja's apartment to meet with him. At the bottom, the man waited with his hands in his pockets, leaning against a plain brown four-door car. As Bathory got closer, Yautja shifted and leaned forwards, standing up straight.

Bathory headed for the passenger side of the car. "Alright, let's go."

Yautja reached his arm out sideways in front of Bathory, stopping him. He looked at the other man, confused.

"Hang on," said Yautja, "I'm bringing someone else as well."

"Wha... bu..." stuttered Bathory as he turned around and looked from the entrance to the parking garage over to Yautja and back to the entrance. "How big is this deal if you think you need a third person?"

"Ehh, it's not that. This kid wanted to tag along, and I realized - hey, you've never met him before. So I told him to come."

"What's so special about this kid that you really want me to meet him?"

Yautja chuckled and shook his head. "A lot. You just need to wait and see."

A little perplexed, Bathory just leaned back against the car as well.

"By the way," said Yautja, looking down and reaching into his left pocket, "I got you something." He pulled out a small object in the shape of a cylinder. Most of the cylinder was colored black, though one of the ends was colored gray. He handed the object to Bathory. "A cartridge," he said proudly.

Bathory perked up as he reached over and took it in his own hand. He was elated, like a kid receiving a present. In small print, around the head of the cartridge were the words "TSAB Standard Military-Grade cartridge - Authorized for enlisted personnel only."

"Military-grade!" shouted Bathory, awestruck. "Oh man, thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Do you know how expensive even just that one cartridge was? Really, I'd go broke if I tried to buy more of them."

"But it's worth it. Trust me." Bathory's mind wandered back to his time on Breach Team 03. He remembered standing in the armory as his teammates and he were loaded up with cartridges, feeling more powerful just by holding them in his hands. Cartridges were something that Bathory didn't know how much he took them for granted until he couldn't get them anymore. Outside of being an officer, the only way to get them was to either buy civilian hunting shells, which required extreme levels of identity verification, or go to the black market and spend all your money on a single shell. Since he went on the run, Bathory wasn't really able to do either of those. After dwelling on that for a while, he was broken out of his daydream by Yautja getting his attention.

"Hey, hey Bathory, you listening? Look up there." Yautja pointed forwards, and Bathory followed where he was pointing up to the top of the parking garage entrance ramp. Standing there was a short figure, his back facing the two guys looking at him.

Bathory turned his head. "Is that who you want me to meet?"

"I don't know," said Yautja, "does he look like a little shit?"

Bathory shrugged. "What does a little shit look like?"

The mysterious figure spun around, facing the two of them, and began to walk down the entrance ramp towards Bathory and Yautja. Both his hands were in his pockets, and his head was tilted down so that his eyes were covered by his hair. He carried an air of being menacing and powerful, or at least he wanted it to seem that way. Without saying anything, he stopped several feet in front of the two men and stood there. As Bathory looked at the kid, he figured that the kid had to be a few years younger than him - fourteen, maybe fifteen at the oldest. Bathory was waiting for something to happen, but as he looked back and forth between the kid and Yautja, his confusion only grew.

"Okay then," he said, finally breaking the silence. He leaned forwards and walked closer to the kid, who was still just standing there. If the kid's eyes were following him, Bathory couldn't tell. He looked back at Yautja. "So is this him?"

Yautja also leaned forwards and walked over to the kid. "Yeah. Thanks for joining us," he said, walking over to stand next to the boy. He motioned to Bathory. "Anyways, this guy is someone else I know," he said to the kid, "and I don't think he's met you before."

Bathory brought his right hand up and waved awkwardly. "Hi there. Glad you could help." He forced a smile, but the continued confusion showed through in his face.

"It's nice to meet you," the boy said, sounding just as mysterious as he was acting. He started to walk slowly towards the confused mage.

"You might have heard my name before, in the dying throes of men who are breathing their last breath. Maybe you have seen me as I strike from a distance, or maybe I watch you as you run away, having let you live." He gave a slight, evil smile and chuckled. "But either way, those who underestimate me do not live to see another day."

Bathory had already decided that this was the strangest thing that had happened to him in a while. What the hell was this kid getting at? He looked at Yautja, who looked back at him with a huge grin across his face. As the boy got closer to him, he continued his speech.

"I am the one that you fear. I am the one that will take your life without a second thought." The boy began to raise his voice as he reached the climax. "Those who double cross me are sent to rot in the ground, and those who incur my ire shall face no end of my wrath." Bathory had to admit; for how stupid this was, he was being drawn in to what was happening.

As the boy reached the final lines, his head shot up, staring forwards with conviction. "I am the fire that burns you alive! I am hate! I am fear! I AM MURDER CALIENTE!"

After that, there was silence. Silence as Yautja waited, Murder finished, and Bathory took in exactly what had been said. As he did so, he stifled some laughter. He tried to keep a straight face, but as everything began to be processed more and more, he had a harder and harder time keeping it inside.

The boy looked at his audience, annoyed. "What," he asked, "what's so funny?"

Finally, Bathory couldn't contain it. He closed his eyes and began laughing out loud, harder than he could ever remember laughing before. He braced himself against the car as he turned around and fell towards it, unable to keep himself up.

"Whaaaaat?" asked Murder, now enraged. "Come on, stop laughing! Why are you laughing?"

Bathory tried to speak. Between continuous laughter and gulps of air, he had a hard time forming words. "You... your name is Murder!" As he said that, it re-energized his laughter, and he doubled over, bracing himself as he fell onto the ground. He rolled over, facing the ceiling, his eyes still closed and his laughter subsiding. "Ohhhh, sorry, that's just... that's just the shittiest code name I've ever heard."

"That's not my code name," said the kid, now angry. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a Siban ID Card. On the top row, next to a picture of his face, was in fact the name 'Murder Caliente'. "That's my real name!"

That, of course, brought Bathory back up to full laughter. He honestly felt like he was going to pass out. As Murder continued begging him to stop laughing, Yautja walked over to Bathory to help him up.

"And that's why I brought him along," said Yautja, reaching down and letting Bathory grab his hand. "Isn't he just a classic?"

"I know," replied Bathory, getting to his feet. As he recomposed himself, he walked around the car, patting the boy on the shoulder as he walked past him.

Bathory opened the front passenger-side door and got in, his face still somewhat flushed. Yautja entered the car and sat down in the driver's seat while Murder grudgingly got in the backseat and sat down. He crossed his arms and avoided looking at either of the other two. "Jerks," he mumbled.

Yautja started the car and drove out onto the main streets. As he did so, he glanced over at his passenger.

"_Can you believe this kid_?" he asked, motioning back towards the still-pissed boy staring out the window.

Bathory had his laughter under control, but the absurdity of the moment still pulsed into his brain every so often, forcing him to keep his mouth shut. "_It's just a phase, even I did that_."

"_What, you changed your name to Hellbringer Darkfire or something?"_

"_Nothing like that, thankfully. Still, it's easy to convince yourself that you're far tougher than you really are." _Thinking more about the boy, Bathory turned his head to look back into the seats behind him.

"By the way, I'm curious about something."

The boy instantly snapped out of his gloomy mood and looked excitedly at the man talking to him. "Yes?" he asked.

"Do you happen to have your own device?"

Murder's face glowed. "Yeah, check it out!"

With that, the boy reached for a deep purple square and activated it. A long staff shot forwards into the front of the car, between Bathory and Yautja. As a large, intricate firing head sprung out between the two of them, Yautja reached out and grabbed the staff.

"Whoa, whoa," he said, startled, "not in the car, man. Put it away. Do you want everyone to see us driving around with that thing?" Distracted, he began to drift out of his lane on the road.

"I got it" said Bathory as he began pushing the device head out of the way. "That's, uhh, very nice."

The kid retracted the staff back into the purple square. "Thanks. Do you really think so?"

"Yeah, sure," said Bathory. He was worried that he'd spoil the next potential joke by laughing too early, but he kept his composure. "So, what is its name?"

"Oh, this?" asked Murder as he held the square up in front of him. His head dropped again, as he looked forward through devious eyes. His voice lowered back to his 'evil-esque' impression. "This... this is Advanced Carbine."

"Damn," said Bathory. "That's too normal." As he sat there disappointed, something in Yautja's pocket began to ring. He pulled out a communications device and checked who was calling him. He answered the call and put the device on speaker mode.

"Rorcal, how's it going?" asked Yautja.

"Good, good, can you hear me?" said the voice on the other end.

"Yup. Everything still ready?"

"Yeah. I'm about to leave with everything. I guess I'll see you soon."

"Alright then, bye."

Yautja put the device back in his pocket. As they kept driving, Bathory started to feel like maybe he was being too mean to the kid sitting behind him. He looked back at the kid again, trying to offer friendly advice.

"You know, Murder, if you just gave yourself a normal codename, you wouldn't get made fun of so much. It can still be a cool name. Let me think... how about 'wolf' or 'bear' or, I don't know, 'ghost' or 'banshee' or something like that." He stopped when he realized that the boy wasn't even listening to him. Bathory sighed. "I'm just trying to help you out, alright?"

Before the helpful mage could feel dejected once again, Yautja's device rang again. Digging it back out of his pocket, He checked the caller's name. Concerned, he answered the call.

"Rorcal, what is it?"

"I'm being followed."

Those three words caused both Bathory and Yautja to stare at the device, not sure what to say. With trepidation, Yautja responded.

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"Don't worry, I'll just outrun them. Come on man, I'm in the supercar now, this is what I do." Over the speaker, Yautja, Bathory and Murder could hear Rorcal's car revving up as he slammed his foot down on the throttle. Far in the background, police sirens began to blare.

Yautja and Bathory exchanged glances, and then Yautja looked back down.

"Do we need to move the delivery point?"

"No, keep going over to the normal spot" said the voice on the other end, shortly before the loud sound of tires squealing under a handbrake turn blasted through the call. "I'll get there when I've lost them. See you then."

Rorcal ended the call, leaving all three occupants of Yautja's car to just stare at the silent object. Yautja took a deep breath, and focused back on the road. It would take them about fifteen minutes to get to the drop-off point, and he just had to hope his acquaintance could get free by then.

Murder leaned forward to speak to the other two. "So, should we just turn back?"

Yautja exhaled. "No, I have faith in him. He can do it."

"I don't know," said Bathory. "Are you sure?"

"Listen, I need to make this trade," said Yautja, looking between the two passengers. "And you two need me to get it as well. Basically, do you guys want to get paid, or not?"

"Alright, alright, calm down," said Bathory, defusing the situation. From his time with Yautja, he knew that a good measurement of Yautja feeling stress was when he started to remind people that he was their boss. That was just how he acted.

"He's done this plenty of times," muttered Yautja to himself. "He's done this more than once. He'll get away, I know he will, any minute now..."

The device rang again. Yautja snatched it up, looked at who was calling, and breathed a sigh of relief. "See guys, I knew he could do it," he said before answering the call.

"Hey man, you free now?"

The voice on the other end seemed stressed out as well. "Yautja, we have to cancel this, it seems like the whole bureau is trying to stop me."

"Damn it!" cried Yautja, shutting his eyes. He opened them again, trying to get back under control. "Listen man, I can't cancel this. I need to get that from you now." The tension in the car was reaching a breaking point.

"Here, how about we call it off, I get away, and you come get it tomorrow?"

"No! I can't, I can't, I need it today. Come on man, you have to pull through for me." Yautja was nearing a meltdown of some sort. Bathory motioned at the driver to give him the phone. "Why" mouthed Yautja. Bathory just motioned for it again. Feeling helpless, Yautja handed the phone to his passenger and Bathory began to talk.

"Hey Rorcal, I'm with Yautja backing him up. I think I know how we can do this. Stay on the call and tell me where you are and any turns you take. I'll try to figure out a location where we can meet up. Does it sound good?"

"Who the hell is this? How do I know I can trust you?"

Bathory sighed. Sure, Rorcal had a right to be suspicious, but everyone's minds seemed to be on the fritz. Bathory held the device up as Yautja leaned over.

"Rorcal, it's me. I can confirm that both of us are together at the moment."

"Alright," said the man over the phone, "I'll go with this, but if I can tell the cops suddenly know exactly where I'm going, this call is over."

"Fair enough," replied Yautja. He looked over at the man next to him. "Go ahead with whatever you want to do."

Bathory nodded. Holding the comm device in his left hand, he held Aphelion in front of him with his right. "Aphelion," he ordered, "track our position in the city, as well as the position that Rorcal provides."

[**UNDERSTOOD, MY MASTER**]

Aphelion projected out a two dimensional screen showing a map of the Victamius street grid. After a few seconds, the position of Yautja's car appeared on the map.

"Okay, if you're still there, I need you to tell me where you are and where you are going." Bathory waited several seconds for any voice to be heard of the constant sounds of wheels spinning, engines revving, and sirens blaring in the background. After there was no response, he was about to repeat his order when Rorcal finally responded.

"I'm on Twenty-First Avenue, turning onto Sparkwood"

Aphelion processed the information and changed the simulation on the city grid. A dot showing Rorcal's car was placed at the intersection of those streets, but nothing more could be done.

[**REQUESTING ADDITIONAL DATA FOR CORRECT TRACKING**]

Bathory spoke again. "Okay, do you know which direction you're going?"

"Hold on!" shot the voice on the other end. "Give me a little bit."

Bathory backed off and looked at the other two silent people nearby him. Yautja was spending equal amounts of time looking at the road ahead of him and the map that Aphelion projected, while Murder was just sitting there, feeling in over his head.

[**ATTEMPTING TO GATHER FURTHER DATA**] said Aphelion. The gem began to pulse as it acted on its own. [**CHECKING CURRENT NEWS FEEDS FOR DIRECTIONAL DATA - NO ADDITIONAL DATA FOUND - ACCESSING ALL TRAFFIC CAMERAS ALONG SPARKWOOD ROAD - CURRENT STATUS - 1 OUT OF 83 MONITORED - 2 OUT OF 83 MONITORED - NO SIGN OF THE REPORTED CAR - 3 OUT OF 83 MONITORED**]

"Aphelion, you really don't need to do that," said Bathory. "Give him a few seconds, I'm sure he'll tell us something soo-"

"I'm getting on Highway 73," shouted Rorcal over the sound of another sharp turn. "I turned right." That was now enough for Aphelion to find him. Knowing that Rorcal turned onto Sparkwood Road from Twenty-First Avenue, and from that, turned right onto Highway 73, Aphelion created a dot on Highway 73 where Rorcal was.

[**CURRENT LOCATION NOW COMPLETE - SIMULATION WILL CONTINUE RUNNING**]

Bathory turned Aphelion's map so Yautja could see it. "Alright, you can follow him now."

"Hey Yautja, are you there?" asked Rorcal.

"I'm right here. Go ahead."

"I think I can outrun them on the highway. No one's out here right now, and I can just gun it."

Yautja took another look at Aphelion's map. "So do you want to meet by the highway somewhere? You get away, take an exit ramp, hide, and we'll be over there?"

"Sounds good. I'll tell you when I think the cops are far enough behind me." A second later, the sound of an engine being pushed to it maximum capacity roared through the phone.

"Well then," said Bathory, "onto the highway it is."

Yautja sped off down the city roads to get over to Highway 73. Bathory clapped his hands together and looked at the rest of his 'team'. As he looked back at Murder, he thought about what had to be running through the kid head. No way was he accustomed to any of what was going on - Bathory could see that. He looked through the cracks and saw a kid who wasn't really trained to deal with a problem situation. Though it hurt him a bit, the former officer currently saw Murder as dead weight first and a scared kid second. Maybe he was stronger than he looked, but it would take an actual battle to see if that was the case.

Yautja went over to and got on the highway, which was almost completely empty. He pushed his own car to a high speed as he continued looking at Aphelion's position map. From the looks of it, Rorcal was several miles north of Yautja's car, but was closing fast. The trio entered a long tunnel that went under part of the city. Between the lanes of traffic was a large wall, separating the northbound and southbound traffic from seeing each other. Yautja held out his hand, asking for the comm device, and Bathory let him take it.

"Rorcal, it's me again. We're coming up near you shortly. If you think you're free, where do you want us to meet?"

Rorcal thought about a good road to exit on. After a few seconds, he responded. "I'm pretty sure I lost them. I'm taking the 45th Street Exit."

"Alright," said Yautja. He looked over at the city map again. "45th, 45th, where is that?" he mumbled.

Bathory looked at the map worriedly. "Uhh, we already passed that."

Yautja turned back to the comm device. "Wait, you just said you're exiting on 45th Street?"

"Yeah, right now. Does that sound good?"

"But... how did you..." asked Yautja, looking back at Aphelion's map. That didn't make sense, according to the simulation.

"What's wrong? Where are you guys?"

"We're in this big tunnel," said Yautja. On the horizon, he saw the end of it.

"Oh, I already went through that. Guess we missed each other. So can you just turn around and come over here?"

"...Sure, why not?" replied Yautja, still in disbelief. As Yautja's car exited the tunnel, he slammed down the brakes on the empty highway. When the car slowed down enough, he drove it to the side, across the median, and sped off back into the tunnel, going south now.

"Well my bad, sorry" said Bathory, messing with the projected grid. "I guess he was going faster than I thought he was." Aphelion closed the grid and he lowered his right arm. His spirits raised with the crisis averted, he looked again at the boy in the backseat, who still hadn't said a word in a long time.

"How are you doing back there? You still alive?"

Murder bit his lower lip. "Yeah, I guess" he mumbled.

"Well, this type of thing happens more often than you'd like. I'm just warning you. Organized crime is really only organized until something gets in the way." Once again, Bathory wanted to help out a kid who was trying so hard to look cool but was way in over his head, but he instinctively assumed Murder to be a burden. If he was weak in combat skills, then his presence threatened the whole operation if something were to go wrong. Bathory had spent years and years being tested by the tough programs of the Siban TSAB, proving himself both with and against his fellow mages. The boy, meanwhile, probably thought tagging along would be a quick, easy way to earn respect and cash. Was he even powerful enough to stand up against anyone? Maybe he was stronger than he seemed, but Bathory saw Murder as a C or D rank mage, not knowing what he was really getting into. The last thing the two men up front wanted was the boy being caught and spilling his guts out about everything he knew.

As the three of them reached the south end of the tunnel, Yautja detailed his plan. "Alright, assuming everything worked out right, we'll meet up, I'll park the car, you two get out and just make sure everything goes well, I'll load everything up, and we'll leave. Got it? Sounds like a plan?"

"Got it," replied Bathory.

"M..." Yautja sighed as he tried to say Murder's stupid name. "Murder, you got it?" As the car exited the tunnel, Yautja and Bathory looked back at the boy. Instead of answering them, he was staring past them, wide-eyed.

"Hey, do you understand?" asked Yautja again.

"Uuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh..." droned the boy as he pointed forwards. Yautja and Bathory turned to see what he was looking at. On the highway, in front of the car, were police cars parked across the highway, blocking it. Several mages were standing in front of the cars, aiming their weapons at the speeding car bearing down on them.

"What the hell?" shouted Yautja as he spun the steering wheel hard. The car began to skid and the mages released a constant barrage of fire at the car. As the car went horizontal, a couple shots destroyed the two tires that were facing the blockade. Carried on by momentum, the car began to roll over violently. Yautja braced himself, putting both of his arms in front of his face. Bathory shut his eyes tightly and Aphelion began to glow.

[**CLAMP BIND**] said Aphelion. Around all three mages, several dark green bindings formed around them and the seats they were sitting on. The bindings closed down on the three of them, holding them tightly to the seats. A moment later, the car was on its hood. A moment after that, the car had flipped back over, wheels down. And a moment after that, the car was sailing through the air, flipping multiple times as it left the ground behind. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as the car went end over end in the chaotic crash. After making several rotations, the car slammed back into the ground and continues flipping over. A few rolls later, the accident finally came to a stop as the car laid upside down, parts strewn across the highway.

Bathory sat there upside down, still held tightly to the seat, shutting his eyes closed. After a little while, he could hear Yautja, struggling to catch his breath under the tight binds around his chest.

"Bathory..." he uttered, "I... I think you can put us down now."

Bathory opened his eyes and looked around at what he could see. Around them was the crumpled shell of the car, and he could detect the strong smell of smoke. However, he didn't feel like he was injured. Relieved, he removed the binds. As they disappeared, the three occupants dropped down, landing twisted and contorted in the wreckage. Yautja pulled himself out of the shattered window as two of the mages who had fired at them ran to their aid.

"I'm so, so sorry," said one of them as he helped Yautja to his feet. "We were trying to catch someone else who was coming this way. We didn't think anyone else would be on the highway."

'Well you missed him, assholes', thought Yautja as he looked back at his destroyed car. The officer continued as his partner went to assist Bathory and Murder.

"If anyone needs an ambulance, I will call one for you. Again, I apologize for this."

Yautja looked at the mage angrily. "You apologize? You just apologize? You destroyed my car! You could have killed us."

"Sir, please understand that this was an unfortunate accident. Nothing more."

Yautja felt like he had every right to strangle the man in front of him. He was readying his hands to wrap them around the guy's neck when he heard Bathory's voice.

"C_ome on man, don't do anything dumb_."

"_They wrecked my car! They wrecked my damn car_!"

"_Let it go; we can't exactly cause a scene_." Still in the wreckage, Bathory saw the other officer come to his assistance, kneeling down and reaching a hand out for him. With the other man's help, he slid out of the car. He got to his feet, and the other man asked him if he was okay. As Bathory looked face to face with him, he suddenly realized what he was doing. He, Bathory Kardenis, a fugitive, was showing his face to the TSAB. He turned away quickly and brought a hand up to cove his face. As he tried walking away from the other man, the officer followed him.

"Sir, are you hurt? Do you need us to take you to a hospital."

"No, nonono, I'm fine." Bathory panicked. "I'm fine, I swear, it's nothing." As he walked laps around the wreckage, the second officer went over to assist Murder, who had crawled out on his own. He wasn't having much luck either.

"Excuse me," said the mage talking to him. He waved his hand back and forth in front of the boy face. "Can you please tell me your name?"

The boy knew better than to tell the 'truth', but he had absolutely no idea what to say. "I...uh...I...I have amnesia."

After that, the second officer walked over to Yautja and the other bureau mage.

"Call for an ambulance. Those two at least seem to be injured."

"Hey, it's really no big deal," said Yautja. "We'll just go on our way and call someone to come get us."

"Sir, you three need to stay here," said the officer who had been talking to Yautja. "You all need to at least receive an evaluation."

Damn it. Yautja looked around at the mess he was part of. Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT. They had to get out of there.

"_Bathory, this is bad_." Yautja was panicking on the inside. "_What are we going to do_?"

Bathory was standing by the overturned car, his hands still in front of his face. "_I'm guessing you don't have any ideas_?"

Yautja drew a blank. "_Nothing. I've got nothing. Think you're up for a fight_?"

"_Against a whole squadron? Are you kidding me_?"

"_Oh, do you have any better ideas?_ _Get these two together if you can and use that one attack you have_."

Bathory sighed. This was about to be either the luckiest or unluckiest day of his life. He walked over to Murder. Through his spread fingers, he looked in the boy's eyes.

"_Murder, can you hear me_?" The boy's sudden shift in attention told him that the boy was listening. "_We need to fight our way out of here. Do you think you can do so_?"

Murder gulped. "_I'll try my hardest."_

"_Alright. Follow my lead, and duck when I tell you to."_

Bathory walked over to where Yautja and two of the officers were. Murder followed him, so that all five of them were grouped together.

"Alright, good," said the first officer who had been talking to Yautja. He used his device to bring up a screen and a keyboard, ready to type into a document. "Now, if you all could please tell us some information, we'll be able to help you in a more reasonable and timely manner..."

Bathory's right hand held Aphelion, ready for the sudden attack.

"_Murder, are you ready_?" he asked.

"_Ready_."

"...going to begin with some simple information, such as your names and places of residence. If you do need a hospital stay, we would like to inform your families of such so that they may be with you..."

"_Yautja, are you ready_?"

"_Go at any time_."

"...so that proper compensation can be provided for this unfortunate and untimely accident. Are we ready to begin?"

Bathory's right arm shot up high into the air. "Duck!" he yelled loudly. As Yautja and Murder did so, Aphelion glowed brightly.

[**SUNBURST**] said the device.

Two powerful rounds of energy shot out of Aphelion at the officers. Catching them both off guard, the rounds slammed into the two of them, knocking them down. Aphelion went into its weapon form, and Bathory checked on the two mages. One of them was unconscious, but the other man began getting to his feet. Quickly, Bathory aimed at him.

"Aphelion, full-auto mode."

[**FULL-AUTO MODE ACTIVATED**]

He fired down at the officer, keeping a constant attack going. The officer put up his shield, but it began to wither under the assault within seconds.

Still, before the shield gave out, the officer fired back at Bathory. He couldn't get a shield up in time, and the shot hit him in the right shoulder. Without his barrier jacket, the full force of the attack surged into Bathory. He stumbled as he held his left hand over the impacted spot, cringing from the searing pain. Aphelion automatically put up a shield to protect its master as his opponent struggled to his feet. As the officer stood up, a purple blast of energy hit him and he immediately crashed back to the ground. Another Clamp Bind wrapped around the officer as Bathory made sure the man couldn't get back in the fight.

Wincing, Bathory looked behind him. Murder had his weapon out and armed, the head of his staff diffusing the leftover energy from his attack. In front of him, Bathory saw three other mages who were part of the barricade rush to get behind cover. Quickly, Bathory ran up to the nearest cop car and crouched down behind it. He motioned to his group to get in cover as well. The two ran up and also hid behind the barricade as a volley of magic flew right over their heads.

"Alright!" shouted Yautja over the attacks. "Two down - that was a pretty good start. Keep going."

Bathory winced from the pain to his shoulder. "Sure, just give me a couple seconds."

"Just put your barrier jacket on. What are you doing?" asked Yautja.

Bathory got confrontational. "Oh, and let everyone immediately know who I am?" He paused as he stood up, retaliating for a little bit before getting back in cover. "Just give myself away like that?"

"Just change how it looks or something! Do anything but stand there bitching about how you can't use it. Every other time you have to fight, you go 'oh I can't use it, they will know who I am'. Do you know how much harder that makes everything?"

'He has no idea how any of this works', thought Bathory. 'I can't just CHANGE the armor I've spent my entire life tweaking and perfecting. He doesn't understand and I want to just beat his face in'. Still, he knew that if the three of them didn't work together, they would all be defeated. Even though Yautja's words struck a nerve, he knew not to let it show. In battle, he defaulted back to the many years of training he had been through, and the three criminals fighting their way out of this tough situation became a team that needed to support each other.

Bathory stood up and traded attacks again. "Yautja, do you have any weapons on you?"

Yautja reached into his right pocket and pulled out a familiar object, causing the other man to smile.

"You still have the gauss staff, I see."

"Of course, I thought I might as well test it out."

Bathory nodded. Looking at both of his new teammates, he came up with an attack plan. "_Murder, Yautja, both of you stay back here and provide covering fire. I'll get up closer and see what I can do_."

Yautja activated the gauss staff, marveling at its properties. Bathory tried to calm his nerves. If this plan went right, they would get out of this mess no problem. Still, he'd have to use the cartridge, and he didn't want to have to use it so quickly after he got hold of one. However, desperate times called for giving everything he had to escape. Readying himself, he looked up over the top of his cover and waited for a good moment.

"_Alright, both of you, keep firing_."

Yautja and Murder stood up simultaneously, aiming at the remaining officers and attacking. Though the squad was expecting the purple blasts from Advanced Carbine, none of them were ready to have a gauss staff of their own turned against them. As Bathory ran out from behind the car, he stayed low, going under the powerful shots that the gauss staff provided. He knew from last night what an impact the shots provided, and several of the officers were knocked off balance as the attacks slammed into their shields.

There was nothing between Bathory and the three TSAB officers now - nothing in the way of a powerful attack. Bathory reached for the cartridge Yautja had given him. As he held it, he yelled "Aphelion, load cartridge" and part of the device retracted, letting him place the cartridge in the weapon. Aphelion closed back up, readying the cartridge for activation. Immediately, the cartridge began surging its magic through the mage and he felt capable of taking on the world. The triangle of the Belkan System formed under Bathory as he began a strong attack. The firing ports of Aphelion fanned out, launching small homing pellets that shot out to the sides and then closed back in on the mages. As the mages focused on blocking the homing shots, Bathory stopped running and dropped to one knee.

Aphelion re-centered its barrels to all aim forwards. The dark green triangle began to glow brightly, and Bathory felt himself charging up for the attack.

"Omega Burst, ready and fire!"

With the power of the cartridge surging through Aphelion, Bathory fired a large beam of energy towards the officers. The three mages turned their shields to try blocking the attack, and the beam slammed hard into them. As Bathory kept the attack up, all three shields eventually broke, and all three mages we overwhelmed by the blast. When he finished, he had left in front of him three downed mages. Worn out from the attack, Bathory braced himself against the ground with his hands. The shell of the spent cartridge was ejected from Aphelion.

Yautja and Murder ran up to Bathory. "Holy shit!" shouted Yautja as the two of them helped their partner up. "Why didn't you do that before?"

Bathory gasped for air. "We were never in that much trouble before. Besides, I had the cartridge. If I didn't have that, I'd probably be passed out right now." He almost fell back to the ground, but Murder supported him. He looked up at Bathory like he had discovered his new role model.

"Well, I guess I'll tell Rorcal to just come get us," said Yautja, also trying to catch his breath.

"Wait, why are you tired?" teased Bathory.

Yautja held the gauss staff up. "You know I'm not that great at magic. Firing this thing took a lot out of me." He deactivated the device, reached for the communications device, and called Rorcal.

On the other end, Rorcal picked up. "Yautja, I'm hearing something going down on the highway. What's happening?"

"Oh, a bit of a late roadblock, but nothing too bad."

'Nothing too bad?' thought Bathory, rolling his eyes.

"Okay then. I'll be waiting for you here" said Rorcal.

"Alright. I kind of lost my car though, so it might be a bit..." As Yautja finished, he looked up at the exit ramp they had been pushing towards. In front of it, there was one more police car in their way. Standing in front of the car was a female officer in her own custom barrier jacket. On the front of her outfit, patches of red in what almost looked like stylized wings raced symmetrically across her chest. She wasn't holding any weapons; instead, red energy shimmered across lines and markings up and down her arms. Her piercing stare told the criminals that she would not be letting them get away.

Yautja sighed. "Rorcal, give us a little bit. Bathory, can you get her?"

"I'm sure I can. Be prepared to back me up. Aphelion, activate Flight Driver."

Once again, the blade of energy appeared on Aphelion's right side. Bathory took a few running steps towards the woman, then swung Aphelion down into the ground and shot along the highway directly at her. The woman stood her ground as the speeding mage drew near. Zipping along at top speed, Bathory left the ground, intending to crash into her as he did to Orthrus. The woman held her right arm forwards, and a red marking on her palm glowed as she spoke.

"Counter-Reaction."

From her hand came a force field that Bathory crashed into. As he did so, the wall of the force field crumpled inwards, collecting the kinetic energy from the impact. When it had stopped him inches from the woman, it transferred the energy it had collected back into propelling him outwards, launching him back all the way behind his cohorts. Bathory crashed to the ground, and before he could react, red bindings wrapped around his body.

Yautja and Murder looked back and forth between their fallen partner, struggling against the bind, and the woman who was slowly approaching them.

"My name is First Lieutenant Negati Winter. You three are under arrest for the assault of multiple Time-Space Administration Bureau officers. I ask that you all please come quietly and without further resistance."

"Piss off," said Yautja. He kept the gauss staff aimed at Negati. Murder, looking to Yautja for guidance, kept his device ready to fire as well.

"What I want to know is this," said Negati as she closed the distance on the two. "Your car was stopped on accident, but you chose to attack the mages who stopped you. I have a feeling you're hiding something. What are you all up to? If you tell me now, I promise I won't hurt you too bad."

"A...and what would that be?" asked Murder, trembling. Yautja shot the boy a glare.

"Oh, let me think," said Negati, resting her hand against her chin as she imagined what she would do. "I'll let you keep breathing on your own volition. How about that?"

"_Murder, you are NOT just giving up_," ordered Yautja_. "You will stand and fight, do you hear me_?"

Murder closed his eyes and nodded. "We refuse!" he remarked.

Yautja looked back at Bathory, still lying bound on the highway. "_Bathory, when can you get free_?"

Bathory sighed. "_She's gotta be an A plus at the very least. I don't know if I can_."

"_Don't tell me that. I need you up here. How can I help?"_

"_Break her concentration some. Get her thinking about something else than the bind she's maintaining."_

"_We'll try, but I think we're losing. Murder seems like he's about to puss out."_

"_Trust in him a little more, alright? He wants to do good."_

"_Bullshit! What has he done so far but get in the way?"_

"_Well, he's doing more than you are right now. Come up with something. I know you can."_

Murder pointed Advanced Carbine at Negati. Though he was still shaking, he acted defiant. "We're not going down that easily!" Murder shot a round at Negati, who raised her shield and just brushed it off. She held her right palm out towards Murder, and shot her own attacks. Murder dove to the left, avoiding most of the blasts. On the ground, he was hit by the final one Negati fired. He gasped, but got to his feet quickly and shot back at Negati. The two of them continued battling, and though Murder couldn't get past her shield, he did a great job dodging her attacks.

As Negati focused on Murder, Yautja heard Rorcal's voice come through the comm device.

"Yautja, what the hell was all that? Is everything okay?"

Forming a plan, Yautja whispered into the device. "Rorcal, I need you to come to us, ASAP. Please, trust me on this."

"If you say so," said the voice on the other end. Yautja looked up at the entrance of the opposite side of the highway and saw the red supercar drift around the corner and squeal down the ramp.

Yautja reactivated the gauss staff and fired it at Negati. Seeing it coming, she spun out of the way and sent an attack Yautja's way. Yautja could only brace himself as he was thrown backwards. Much like Bathory, he was encased in red bindings as soon as he hit the ground.

Murder paused as he looked over at his incapacitated partners. "Guys," he shouted, "get up! Please get up."

Negati cleared her throat. "Now, how about you be the sensible one and surrender. Deactivate your weapon, get to your knees, and put your hands on your head."

Murder didn't know whether he wanted to keep fighting or not. "I...I..."

"_Hey Murder,_" said Bathory, "_You want to look tough, right? What did you say you were - the flame that burns in the night or something? Give her everything you've got_."

"You're right," shouted Murder out loud, leaving Negati to wonder who he was talking to. A purple triangle began to form under Murder as he stared the Lieutenant down. "I won't let you take me alive. Fire!"

Advanced Carbine went into overdrive as Murder gave everything he could to keep attacking Negati. She hunkered down and waited behind her shield for the attack to stop. As soon as the boy was done, she would finish this. All she could see were purple blasts slamming into the red glow of her shield, and all she could hear were the detonations of the impacts. They were so loud, in fact, that she only heard Rorcal's car behind her as he slammed on the brakes and spun the back of his car around. Negati turned to face the noise, but wasn't fast enough to stop the side of the car from slamming into her, dazing her and throwing her forcefully to the ground.

As she slid along the ground, Bathory broke the bindings that held him. He got to his feet, swiftly put Negati in a bind of his own and ran over to Yautja. Bathory freed him, and the three guys approached Rorcal's car as the windows of the car rolled down. Rorcal leaned his head out of the window.

"Heeeeey, you finally made it."

Yautja chuckled. "So, uhh, things didn't really work out so well, and my car got destroyed."

Rorcal laughed long and hard. "Well why didn't I just drive to your place if things were going to go like this?"

Yautja sighed and looked back down the highway at the battleground, the smoke from his upturned car still visible. "I know. This was such shit." He looked back at Rorcal. "Hey, so, I guess I'm riding out of here with you. Is that okay?"

Rorcal shrugged. "Sure. But you better do it quickly,"

Bathory raised his hand as Yautja went over to the passenger side door of Rorcal's car and climbed in. "Wait, guys, what about the two of us?"

Yautja looked at the nonexistent backseat, and then at Bathory. "You get yourself and Murder out of there. I trust you can do it."

"Wait, Murder?" asked Rorcal, "Is that a name?"

"I say no, but he says yes." Yautja pointed at Murder Caliente.

Rorcal couldn't help but chuckle. "That's not a good name at all. Anyways, see you two around, I guess." With that, he drove off up the Forty Fifth Street Exit again.

The boy looked at the car, annoyed. "So they're just going to leave us like that?"

Bathory checked the battleground quickly, making sure everyone was either unconscious or trapped in a bind. "Come on, I'll get you out of here. Hold on and trust me."

Murder wrapped his arms around Bathory. "Trust you with whaaaaahhhhh!" he shouted as Bathory ran forwards and then dove at the ground. Flight Driver clipped into the highway and both of them shot off along the highway into the distance. As they were lost in the horizon, Negati finally freed herself from the bind. She stood up, looking out at where the two had gone and sighed.

"Damn it," she muttered as the criminals got away. She turned around and ran to assist the other officers. As she helped them out, she had a feeling that she'd seen one of the assailants' faces from somewhere else. She didn't get a good view of him, but he just looked... familiar somehow. What was he from? She could swear it looked familiar. It continued to bug her as she checked on everyone.

* * *

In another part of the city, Bathory and Murder soared along a wall. The two of them slowed down and Aphelion disengaged, dropping them to the ground. Murder jumped off of Bathory and paced back and forth, absolutely psyched out.

"I can't believe it. That was amazing! Everything... everything back there...oh that was so cool!"

Bathory deactivated Aphelion, utterly exhausted. "You...you did pretty good back there. You're better than I thought you would be."

"Thanks," said the boy. He looked at his new best friend and asked him a question. "Hey, if you want to, could you help me out with something?"

Bathory shrugged. "Depends. What you want?"

Murder thought of how to phrase his request. "Well, see, there is this 'guy' who is selling 'something' that my friend really wants, but he won't give it to us."

"Okay, first of all, that's the most ambiguous way you could have possible said it, and second of all, whoever this is isn't going to just give you... well, whatever it is you want."

"Nonono, see, we have most of the money the guy wants, but we can't get the last bit. I've tried asking Yautja to help out, but he won't listen to me. It's worth it for him, that's what I say, but he just insults me and says he won't help."

Bathory sighed. "Well, if it really is worth his while to donate, I'll talk to him about this. Trust me. If I get him to do this, I guess he'll contact you about it."

Murder was overjoyed. "Thank you so much."

Bathory promised that the kid would hear the results soon as the two of them parted ways.


	4. No Voice Too Great Or Small Part 1

**Quick Author's Notes:**

Without spoiling any of the chapter below this, the event that happens was something I had a lot of fun imagining and writing, and it's not something I've seen done much in other stories. It's a nice 'what if' to explore. Again, maybe a liberty or two has ended up being taken, but I'm just going with how I think it goes. By the way, thanks for the views so far, everyone.

* * *

May 25th, 0076  
Victamius  
6:20 PM

Negati knew this couldn't be right. Looking at the lists of currently-at-large criminals on Siba, she had paused on one of the names in the list. A picture of the man's face stared back at her from the projected screen, as she thought back to the incident that morning on the highway. One of those criminals had seemed familiar to her somehow, like his identity was on the tip of her tongue. The man staring back at her seemed like he could fit the profile, give or take a couple years. But she had her doubts.

"What the hell would Bathory Kardenis be doing all the way over here?"

She wasn't certain that he was one of the attackers, but none of the other faces had made her pause and think like this. Still, according to the ongoing TSAB investigation report, if there were any thoughts or possibilities that Bathory had been spotted in a new location, the Siba Capital branch was to be immediately contacted. With the thought unable to leave her mind, Negati placed the call.

* * *

Siba Capital  
9:50 AM

Enforcer Harlaown rushed through the hallways of the Siba Capital TSAB Main Office. Only minutes ago, General Parkensine had ordered an immediate meeting in his office. As Fate approached the room, she slowed to a regular walk and checked her uniform, making sure it was all neat and in place.

"Enforcer Harlaown reporting, sir" said Fate as she entered the room. She stood tall and saluted the General. Parkensine was standing in front of his desk, looking up at a live video feed that took up most of the wall in front of him.

"At ease," he replied. Fate lowered her arm and walked over to Parkensine. She stood next to him as they both faced the screen. Looking back at the two of them was Negati.

"Alright, Lieutenant," said Parkensine to the girl on the screen, "Enforcer Harlaown here is the primary investigator on the current investigation of Bathory. Can you please tell her what you told me?"

Negati turned to look at Fate, awestruck. "Wow, E...Enforcer Harlaown, nice to meet you."

One thing Fate could always count on in every mission was the adoring fan. She gave a small nod. "Nice to meet you too, Lieutenant."

Negati composed herself and began. "My name is Negati Winter, First Lieutenant of the city of Victamius armed forces. Earlier in the day, I responded to a battle which had broken out in the city. When I arrived, there were three males who had defeated a squadron of officers and were attempting to escape the premises. One of them demonstrated a high affinity for magic, the type you would normally find, well, on a bureau officer. Though I didn't get a good look at him, I can't help but think that his features and composition look a bit like the pictures I've seen of Bathory."

A drawing appeared on the screen, showing a man's face. Negati continued. "Here is a recreated image from what I can remember the mage looking like. Using this, you can see that there are some similarities."

Fate walked up close to the screen, looking up at the drawing. "Bardiche, open up Bathory's profile" she said.

[**YES SIR**]

The yellow device projected its own screen showing the profile that Fate had assembled of her target. She put a finger on the picture of Bathory's face and dragged in out so the image fully took up Bardiche's screen. She looked at the actual picture on the profile, then compared that to the drawing. Well, she thought, if Lieutenant Winter only saw the face for a bit, she couldn't make a recreation perfect. As Fate went back and forth, she was also caught in limbo. Some things kind of matched up, but some things didn't seem the same. Fate sighed.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I am not able to confirm that who you saw was Bathory Kardenis."

Negati's professional demeanor began to crack. "Reports from the attacked officers indicated that the man in question had powerful attacks! If he's not Bathory, then I don't want to imagine someone else like that running freely around our city."

Parkensine crossed his arms and stepped forwards. "Lieutenant, while I waited for Enforcer Harlaown, I had a look at the official report of what happened. You had this man on the ground, and was close to apprehending the group. What happened? Why did you fail?"

Dejected, Negati had a hard time speaking. "I...I was ambushed by a fourth attacker and was defeated by the combined efforts of the group. I could not recover in time to prevent their escape." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry, sir."

Parkensine sighed. "If that was Bathory, we just missed an excellent opportunity to stop him once and for all."

Fate spoke up. "Negati, I want you to tell your city's police forces to be on the lookout for Bathory. If he is sighted again, and we can confirm his location, it will be of great help to the case."

Negati raised her head again. "Yes, Enforcer, will do."

"Don't make it public that you're on lookout for him," said Parkensine. "If he is in Victamius, I don't want him picking up that he's on your radar. The last thing we want is him getting spooked and running."

"Yes sir, anything else?"

"If anyone else believes they have seen suspicious activity or have directly sighted Bathory, I would like you to report that directly to me," said Fate.

Negati saluted both of them. "I will certainly do that. Thank you General, and thank you Enfor... Enforcer Harlaown." Negati blushed a little as she said goodbye to Fate.

* * *

May 26th, 0076  
Victamius  
9:30 PM

More than a day later, Bathory was sitting next to Efra Crawmer in her and Yautja's apartment. Once again, as Yautja was off in another room, Bathory was lying through his teeth.

"So as my squad and I are trying to intercept the guy, we hear over the radio that some other squad stopped him on the highway. After that, someone is saying that it's a false alarm when there's this explosion sound behind him. I ask him if he needs backup, and I just hear this huge battle breaking out on the other end of the radio."

Efra moved closer to Bathory. "So did you go? What happened?"

"Well, I sped over there to help out. However, we heard a message from Lieutenant Negati that she'd take care of it."

Efra shivered, making it dramatic and over the top. "I've heard about her. I saw her once, while I waited for my training. She was heading off somewhere, though. Do you know her? Are you friends?"

"Well, of course she orders us around quite a bit on shift. Off of it, I've talked to her a few times. Nothing much to it, though."

"Was she alright? From what I heard, yesterday she was hit really hard in the attack."

Bathory paused. He hadn't exactly thought this far ahead yet. "She seemed alright when I got down there. By that time, it was already too late; the criminals were gone and a sea of injured cops remained. Negati got up by herself, though, and I helped her deal with the mess. I wanted to tell her that she should have sent me in to get the attackers, but she looked pissed, so I just didn't mention it."

Yautja walked out into the living room as Efra continued her interview.

"Could you have taken them, Thanus? Do you think you could have done it?"

Bathory stretched his arms above his head. "Probably. I probably could have." Yautja just shook his head, and Bathory winked at him.

Efra looked at her brother. "Ha, it was so weird that the car the attackers drove looked just like Yautja's. I thought for a moment that he was involved."

Yautja quickly butted in. "But it's not, and my car is still in the parking garage, alright? "

Bathory looked up at Yautja. "_How the hell did you pull that one off?"_

"_I stole a car of the same model, got it repainted, and got it back here real quickly."_

"_Can't believe that worked. I have to say, those actions sound incredibly dumb when you say them out loud."_

"_Well, that wasn't the first time I had to do that."_

Bathory felt bad for how absolutely deceived Efra was about basically everything around her. There was no way she could be told the truth, but she didn't deserve having to interact with so many false personalities.

Speaking of false personalities, the doorbell rang. Efra jumped up, but Yautja told her that he'd get it. He opened the door, and Murder Caliente walked into the apartment.

"Yautja," said the boy, "good to see you." He looked at Bathory and nodded. As he did so, Efra came bouncing over to him.

"Hi, I'm Efra, nice to meet you," she said, butting in to shake Murder's hand.

"Hi Efra, I'm... uhh... my name is Arci."

Bathory and Yautja looked at each other. "_A normal name!" _they both shouted in their heads.

"Well Arci, are you..." she noticed how young he was and looked back at her brother, confused. Yautja explained.

"Oh, he's in a class at his high school. He's shadowing me as I do my job."

"...But school's out soon, isn't it?"

'Ahh, good point', thought Yautja. "It's for a summer class. They have to find someone before it starts."

Efra checked the time. "Isn't it a little late in the day for him to start shadowing you?"

Also a good point. "Uhh, he has school during the day, duh. Can't exactly do it then."

Efra looked like she was still confused, but she just accepted it. "Alright then. So you two are going out to do 'networking' business?"

Yautja put his shoes on. "Yup. I'll be back in an hour or so."

Bathory got up from the couch. "Well, then, I'll be going too."

"Really?" asked Efra. "You don't need to go."

"Well, I don't want to just stay around while Yautja's out. That wouldn't be respectful."

Efra looked downcast. "Oh...okay. Well, I'll see you later, Thanus."

The three guys left the room. Bathory held the door open, looking back at Efra. He wasn't stupid; he could tell that she appreciated him as more than just a casual friend. Her eyes told him that she wished they two of them could stay together, alone in the apartment where nothing could come between them. What made it so hard for Bathory to close the door was that he also felt something more with him and Efra, something he thought he'd given up when he became a murderer and ran. He sighed, because even though he felt those emotions again, he couldn't act on them. Efra couldn't know Thanus any more than she did, because he wasn't real. And for Bathory to stay in Victamius, Efra couldn't know anything about who he actually was.

"See you later, Efra" he said, closing the door. He saw Yautja and Murder walking further down the hall, and went to catch up to them.

"Arci," said Yautja. "Arci. Why don't you just use that name?"

"I got it from a movie," said Murder. "You told me to come up with a fake name, so I did. I'm still Murder to everyone else."

"You're seriously missing the point, aren't you?" asked Yautja as the three of them descended the stairs to the parking garage. When they reached the bottom, he spoke again.

"Alright, so as you can tell, this guy talked to me about your offering. I denied for a while, and I still don't know exactly why I'm chipping in to buy this 'thing', but he eventually convinced me to do it."

Bathory chimed in. "Yeah, especially since you still haven't told us much about what exactly we're buying. However, I told him what you told me - that if he does this, you'll recommend everyone you know to do business with Yautja."

The three of them reached Yautja's 'car'. "I still don't really feel like hanging out and babysitting all your friends" he said to Murder as he got in the car.

"You're not babysitting them, I promise" said the boy, again getting in the back. He held out a folded sheet of paper in his hand, and Yautja took it. The car drove out onto the main roads of Victamius, carrying the three occupants once again. Yautja unfolded the paper. Written on it was two locations: the first one was the place where they'd be making the trade, and the second one was where the delivery point would be. Yautja reached into his own pocket and brought out a neatly-clipped stack of money.

"There. That's my contribution."

Murder reached out and took it. He opened an envelope that he was carrying with him and dropped the money in it.

Yautja sighed. "Alright, please tell me what we're actually buying. I just want to know what I'm dealing with."

"Alright, alright, it's a device," said the boy.

"...A device. Alright." Yautja rolled his eyes. "That really narrows it down. What type? Is it a storage device? Comm device? A weapon of some sort?"

"It's a weapon. There, are you happy?"

"Damn it, quit holding out on me. I want to know more, okay? I'm not going to take it. I want to give it to your friend, alright? Can you tell me a little more than what you've been saying?"

"Hold on, no need to yell at him" said Bathory. He turned to look at the boy. "Do you know how smart it is?"

"Smart?" asked Murder. "What?"

Bathory held out Aphelion and let the boy look at it. "This is an intelligent device. It's named that because it's almost like there's a person in there. It can make decisions on its own and act independent of its user. Otherwise, if it can't do those, it's a storage device. Do you know which one the thing you're buying is?"

Murder thought. "Uhhhhh, the first one."

"Alright." Bathory looked over at Yautja. "That's why it's so expensive - pretty much one of its kind. At least he's setting his sights on something actually worth it."

Yautja tightened his hands around the steering wheel. "To be honest, I don't really know how that makes me feel."

They stayed quiet for a while, but then the boy piped up with a question.

"Hey guys, can I ask you something?"

Bathory turned his head a little bit. "Sure, go ahead."

"How long have you two known each other?"

The two in the front exchanged glances. "About two months, maybe a little more than that" said Yautja.

"Alright then, so in two months, will I be your second in command?"

Yautja's eyes opened wide. "Hell no, why did you even assume that?"

"Because you've only known him for two months, and you listen to everything he says."

"Okay, first of all," snapped Yautja as he turned to face the kid, "the guy next to me is AA-rank or something like that. Second, he knows the way to win pretty much every battle he gets into. And third, his name ISN'T FUCKING MURDER."

"Okay, calm down please" said Bathory as he intervened between the two. Offering actually helpful advice, he turned back to the boy. "I've been dealing with battles for a long time, and I can handle more than the average person. If I wasn't on the highway with you two yesterday, you'd have been screwed. Correct?"

"Correct" said the boy.

Yautja sighed. "Correct," he finally muttered.

"Yautja and I work together because we both help each other out a lot. He gets me work, and I make sure it's done right. Now, Murder, while you were a big help yesterday, you're still a little new and it might take a bit more time than it took me to get somewhere. But one day, maybe, you'll be the boss around here."

The kid looked at Bathory and spoke to him directly. "_I don't know about that. From the first minute I met Yautja, he's been putting me down."_

"_Well, what he thinks of you can change. You know, the first time I met Yautja, he tried to kill me."_

The boy sat up, stunned. Yautja noticed this and looked back at him in the rear-view mirror.

"Had a revelation back there, man?"

Murder continued speaking to Bathory. "_What? Really? Is that true?"_

"_Hey, weirder things have happened. Just keep proving yourself to Yautja and he'll come around to you. Maybe rethink the name, of course."_

The car pulled up to the drop-off point. Yautja motioned for Bathory to get out, and pointed to a man standing in the shadows of an alleyway. Bathory took the envelope of money and got out of the car. Quickly, he walked into the alleyway and handed the shadowy figure the envelope. The figure checked the contents. When he was sure that the payment was sufficient, he handed over a small duffel bag that was zipped shut. Bathory took a look around, again wary about an ambush, and walked quickly back to the car. He had just sat down when Yautja started to drive off.

Bathory breathed a sigh of relief. "For once, something happened without a problem."

"An all-too-rare occurrence," said Yautja. He checked the second location that was written on the piece of paper and headed towards it.

Bathory examined the bag he had been given. He could hold it in one hand, but it seemed like it was holding a lot more than some device in its small standby form. He pushed down on the top of the zipped bag to feel what was inside. Instead of feeling a solid object, he felt something soft. And did it just move under him?

He found himself reaching for the zipper. "Murder, can I see what we got?"

His face turned white. "I...I...why are you asking that?"

"Because I don't think you're telling us the whole truth..." said Bathory slowly. He grabbed the zipper and apprehensively opened up the bag. As he did so, a small human-looking girl, maybe only a foot tall, flew up out of the bag. She was stopped in the air by glowing magical chains that prevented her from escaping. She struggled with all her might, but she couldn't break free.

Bathory almost dropped the bag in surprise. He and Yautja stared at the small girl who was grunting as she tried twisting her way out of the chains. Now it was Bathory's turn to raise his voice.

"Murder, how in the hell did your friend buy A UNISON DEVICE?"

Knowing he was in trouble, the guilty kid sped through his words. "No, no, see, everything's good, we saw that this guy was selling it and my friend really wanted to have it and we made sure that everything was good and that it would all work out, so you can trust me, all right..."

The foot-tall girl opened her eyes to glare at her transporter. Instead, his gaze of horror caught her off guard. Thinking that someone might listen to her plea, she quietly tried to speak.

"I...I..."

In the backseat, Murder continued blabbering away. "...so I couldn't really tell you the full truth because, I don't know, I thought you wouldn't go with it but I promise that it will be okay, okay?" He waited for someone to respond, but Bathory simple raised his hand. He looked at the girl and waited for her to continue.

"Cou... Cou...could you please release me?"

Bathory looked back at the other two mages, silently telling them to be quiet. Then, he looked back at the girl. "What's your name? How did you end up here?"

She floated there, not even trying to fight the chains which had imprisoned her. "My name is Ia Zver. My lord and I... we were in battle. We were overwhelmed, and he eventually...he fell to the ground." She began to tear up. "He told me to run. He said I had to escape. I tried, but...but they followed me, and they attacked me. I couldn't fight back, and they locked me down tightly. I've been...been traded multiple times. They keep me, just waiting...waiting to sell me off somewhere else again!" She began to cry. Bathory reached to comfort her, but she pulled back from him. "I'm sorry for crying, I'll stop, I promise I'll stop, don't...don't hurt me, I promise I'll stop."

Bathory shook his head. He couldn't believe he was just letting this happen. "Guys," he said, "I don't think we should do this."

Murder was quick to react. "It's fine, trust me. She's sad because she doesn't have a new master. That's what we're doing. We're getting her one - I know how this works. Everything will be fine, don't worry."

Bathory felt a twitch of anger. Or maybe it's because of all the shit she's been through, he thought. He closed his eyes tightly and apologized to Ia as he forced her back into the bag. Zipping it shut, he could feel her kicking against the sides and hear her pleading to be released from inside the bag. He set it down by his feet and sat there with a lot now on his mind. Sighing deeply, he put his hands on his face.

"This isn't just theft of property. This is slavery. Kidnapping, illegal trafficking, and slavery. This is maybe the worst thing I've ever done."

"_Not true_," said Yautja, smugly. "_You killed someone once_."

"_Self-defense_," shot Bathory back. "_It was self-defense. Not the same thing."_

"_Oh, want me to tell everyone who wants you dead that it was 'just self-defense'?"_

"_You think I haven't tried that already? And do you think they wanted to listen?"_

"Guys, it'll be alright," said Murder as the car pulled up to the meeting spot. "Nothing bad is going to happen." He reached his hand out, expecting Bathory to give him the bag with Ia in it. "I'll take her over and deliver her. You two can go now."

Bathory kept it in his own hands. "No, I'm going with" he said as he opened the door and stepped out. "You have no idea what you're getting into."

Annoyed, the boy just got out of the car and followed behind Bathory. Yautja rolled his window down and yelled after them.

"Wait, so what do I do, just sit here?"

Bathory turned around. "Park somewhere nearby. If this somehow goes well, I'll be out soon. If not, I'll deal with the fallout."

"Fallout?" shouted Yautja back, but the two just kept walking off towards the meeting spot. Annoyed, he pulled forwards and waited.

The spot that Murder had picked for the meeting was the center of a flat field. The sun had gone down just a half-hour ago, and now the only lights were from the areas surrounding the field. It was dark, but Bathory could still make out a figure standing in front of them. As they got closer, Murder ran towards the figure.

"Devin!" he shouted as the other person moved towards them. Devin was about the same height as the boy and looked to be the same age as well.

"You made it," said Devin, the two boys doing a fist bump. "Did you get the package?"

"You know I did" said Murder, stepping to the side to let Bathory through.

Devin looked up at the taller man. "Uhh, and who is this?"

Bathory stopped in front of Devin. "I know you don't believe me, but I'm here for your own protection."

Devin scoffed. "Whatever, just give me the bag." Bathory held it out and the other boy took it. Quickly, he unzipped the bag and opened the top. This time, Ia slowly floated up out of the bag as high as the chains would allow her to. Devin brought her up to his eye level as she slowly looked up at him.

"Hey, wassup?" he asked her. "How's it going?"

Ia looked back down at the ground. "You're not for me."

"What?" he asked as her wrapped his hand around her, bringing her closer to him. Ia flinched and shook as Devin examined her. "Trust me, we're perfect."

"No... no... I don't accept you."

"What do you mean 'you don't accept me'? Come on now, you and me, we'll be best friends."

"No, please, I don't accept you."

Bathory looked at Devin. "Look, trust me, it's for the best if you just give her back. This is not going to end well."

Devin raised his voice. "What do you mean by that? I'm perfect for this, we checked." He stared down at Ia, now threatening her. "You are going to work with me, okay? I bought you. I own you now. I want YOU" he said as he shook her, "to be MY unison device. You got that?"

Ia looked up at Devin, a new conviction behind her actions. "Alright. I'll fuse with you."

Devin smiled as he undid the chains around her. "I knew you'd come around," he said. He removed the last of the chains and tossed the bag aside as Ia continued to float in front of him. Devin spread his arms out. "Come on, let's do this." he said to the unison device. Revenge in her eyes, Ia responded.

"Yes, let's."

Ia began to glow as she moved closer and closer to Devin. She was glowing a blinding white at she reached his body and began to fuse into Devin. Feeling Ia and himself connecting, Devin shouted with joy.

"This is it, man. It's finally happening!"

Bathory gripped Aphelion in anticipation. Next to him, Murder cheered his buddy on.

"Yeah, you go Devin! I knew it would be perfect."

Ia Zver fully entered Devin, and began the unison. The boy laughed wildly. "I can feel it. I can already feel it!" However, his laughing ceased, and terror began to fill his face as his body started glowing white. "No...no...this isn't right...what's happening?" he asked, grasping at his own body. As he continued to glow brighter and brighter, he started to scream. "I...Get her out! GET HER OUT! OH GOD, GET HER OUT!"

"Devin!" shouted Murder as he tried to run to his friend. Bathory held him back. As Devin's body became a blob of blinding light, Bathory grabbed Murder and began running away from Devin. A second later, a blast of magic exploded out of Devin, tossing the escaping mages into the air and onto the ground. As everything resided, Bathory rolled over and looked back at the spot where Devin was. Instead of Murder's friend being there, Ia Zver stood in the same spot, now a human-sized version of herself. Her head was turned down, and she was trembling.

Murder looked at Ia as well. Rubbing his eyes, he gazed at her in disbelief. "Devin?" he asked, wondering where his friend had gone.

There was a long pause after that question. Nobody was sure of what to do. Finally, Ia responded.

"He...he's not here anymore. I wouldn't let him control me."

The boy slowly looked over at Bathory. "Wh...where did he go?"

Bathory continued to lie there, looking up at Ia. He motioned towards her. "He's in there, somewhere."

"In there? What do you mean in there? What happened?"

Bathory sat up. "Unison accident," he said plainly.

"...And what would that be?" asked the boy, also sitting up.

"It's when your unison device overwhelms you. When it takes control, basically." He turned to Murder. "The link between a unison device and its user is naturally picky. It could take a while for a device to find a new master if it loses its old one. An accident is common even when a unison device wants to fuse with you, and is pretty much guaranteed if you try to force it. Anyways, at the moment, that body is hers, she controls it, and I don't think she's going to just let go of Devin if we ask."

It began to dawn on Murder what had really happened to his friend. "What is she doing to him in there? Is he dead?"

"No, he's still alive" said Bathory. "As for what is happening to him, well, nothing good probably." He got to his feet and slowly began to approach Ia. "Ia?" he asked, getting ready for a fight. If he could talk her back down, that would be great, but it was also highly unlikely. "Ia, I'm sorry that any of this happened. I want to help you."

Ia stopped trembling. "You're not sorry," she said. "You allowed this to happen."

"Ia, I don't want to have to fight you, but I ask that you please release the body you are holding captive."

Ia's voice pierced through him like a cold stare. "No."

Bathory continued approaching her. He had never fought anyone with a unison device, much less dealt with a unison accident. He had no idea what Ia could do. "Ia, I'll take you back to the TSAB if you let him go. I will make sure that you get to safety and protection."

Again, she refused. "I won't do a single thing you say. You can't control me anymore."

Bathory looked over at Aphelion. "Aphelion, get ready."

[**WEAPON FORM ACTIVATED**]

The device transformed around Bathory's right arm, and he aimed at Ia. He wasn't going to stay passive any longer. "Ia, this isn't a suggestion, this is an order. I order you to let Devin go."

Ia balled her fists and her eyes glowed in the night. "None of you can control me! None of you can!" She held her arms out, and charged up an attack.

Bathory backed up. "Aphelion, barrier jacket combat form" he shouted. Again, his body glowed and he was in his barrier jacket a half-second later. Ia screamed as she fired the attack she had been charging.

[**PROTECTION**] said Aphelion as Bathory shielded himself. Ia's attack crashed into the shield. Though the shield held up, the human mage felt his feet digging into the dirt as his entire body was being moved. As the attack subsided, he tried one more time to talk Ia down.

"Ia, please, you don't need to do this. Let the kid go, and I'll help you out."

"You really think I can trust any of you, after what you've all done? I won't listen to anything you say."

"So be it," he muttered. He raised Aphelion and began firing at Ia. Instead of blocking, Ia dashed to the left, hovering above the ground. Bathory turned to fire at her, but she just dashed back to the right, sailing out of the way of the attacks. Thinking he had predicted her now, he aimed to her left, and was caught off guard when Ia rushed him. She grabbed Bathory by the neck and held him up the air. With her free hand, she started charging another magic blast. Bathory quickly aimed Aphelion down at her, but she swung her arm up, knocking it to the side. He could only brace himself as he was punched with a ball of magic. Ia let him go as he stumbled backwards.

Bathory went to counter-attack when a large ball of purple energy slammed into Ia. She turned away, only dazed. Bathory looked over to see Murder standing up, with Advanced Carbine out.

"Hey you, listen to me" he shouted. "Give me back my friend!" He fired on Ia repeatedly, trying to distract her. Bathory was thankful for the help, but worried that Murder wouldn't be able to stand up to the rampaging girl.

"_Murder, run back to Yautja and leave. You have to get out of here."_

"_No way! You need my help."_

Ia began to push through the boy's attacks and set her sights on him. Bathory quickly thrust Aphelion to the side.

"Aphelion, charged multi-shot, on my command."

[**UNDERSTOOD - BEGINNING TO CHARGE**]

Ia held her arms in front of her and split one of Murder's attacks in two. She rocketed over to him, pounding on his shield with her attacks. Trying to hold her back, Murder buckled down as Ia tried to crush him under the onslaught. Bathory began to run to the boy's aid.

"_Hold on a little bit longer. I'm coming."_

Ia wound her arm back and destroyed Murder's defenses with a hard punch. As Murder fell, Ia raised both arms above her head. She yelled as she began forming a large ball of energy above her to bring down on her victim.

Bathory looked as his device as he ran. "Aphelion," he said, "is the charged shot ready?"

[**READY TO FIRE ON COMMAND, MY MASTER**]

He aimed Aphelion at Ia, squinting to make sure the shot was lined up right. If he missed, things wouldn't end well for the boy laid out on the ground. Finally, as Ia was about to force her attack down on the boy, Bathory yelled "Fire!"

A large green burst shot from Aphelion over to Ia. Bearing down on Ia, the blast concentrated itself to attack her body. It hit her dead on, knocking her over and canceling her attack. Ia fell and crashed into the ground on her side. Bathory quickly ran over to Murder and helped him get up. With Ia on the ground, Bathory started pushing him out of the field.

"Go," he yelled, "she's too strong for you to deal with."

"No, I'm staying. You can't take her alone."

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't, but at least I have a chance. You could have died if that hit you." As Bathory pushed him along, Murder was going with the flow somewhat. He doubted himself, having been knocked down so easily. Though he really wanted to stay, he kept running.

"Alright, Ia," said Bathory, turning around. "Time to get back to bus..." He stopped as he felt himself rising into the air, hovering a foot or two off the ground. He thought that Ia would be holding on to him again, but she was standing far back, levitating him against his will. He was put into a binding spell, as white rings held his arms to his sides and his legs together, firmly in place, still floating in the air. He struggled against it, wondering what Ia was going to do. She answered him by spreading her arms as wide as she could. To Bathory's left and right sides, two large slabs of solid energy appeared out of thin air. Both of them looked like they could flatten someone. Realizing what Ia was planning to do, he fought to escape the binds as hard as he could. Ia brought her arms together slightly, and the plates of energy shifted closer to the trapped mage. If he couldn't escape, he would be crushed to death inside the attack.

Bathory screamed as he made his best and last attempt at escaping. As Ia quickly brought her hands together, the two plates moved in to kill him. At the last second, the trapped mage broke free and dove forward as the plates collided behind him. The sound they made when they met was deafening, and Bathory's ears rang as he got back up.

"Ia, why are you trying to kill me? I want to help you!"

"No one who kept me trapped in those chains wants to help me. You traded me off just like everyone else." She summoned another simple attack and threw it forward.

'Maybe I need to use something more forceful', thought Bathory, blocking the shots and running at her. He held his left hand out at Ia.

[**CLAMP BIND**] said Aphelion. Now Ia's arms and legs were pinned to her body by green bindings. Bathory got right up next to her. "Now, let's see how you react to this," he said as the green Belkan triangle formed underneath him.

[**FLECHETTE PRISON**]

A green crystal of energy formed around Ia. She glared at Bathory as he pointed Aphelion at the wall of the crystal.

Bathory yelled "Fire" and Aphelion shot a special blast at Ia. This blast consisted of multiple piercing rounds that struck Ia, bounced off the inside of the crystal, struck her again, bounced around again, and continued over and over. In the crystal, Ia fought to escape as she was hit multiple times by the constant attack. Each shot pierced her skin when it impacted, leaving her with several lacerations across her body by the time the attack finally ended. Ia was left in the bind, panting and bleeding as the crystal phased away and the shots disappeared. Bathory walked up to Ia, holding her head up to meet his with his right hand. She tried to turn away, but Bathory forced her to face him. Both of them were breathing heavily.

"Ia, you need to release Devin. If you don't, then I will force you out of him."

Ia emphasized her next words. "I have been held down for weeks, locked away, unable to save myself. I'm not your captive or your hostage anymore!" She began to glow as energy expanded around her, pushing the binds to their breaking point.

Sensing that this next part of the fight would decide whether he would live or die, Bathory quietly said "Aphelion, change barrier jacket to Standoff Form."

Bathory's outfit changed slightly. Armor appeared around his chest and up his arms. In this form, he gained higher defenses while trading off mobility and speed. However, he would need all the armor he could get as Ia's rage grew to frightening levels. She broke the bindings in a violent explosion that knocked Bathory into the air. He flew backwards, slamming into the ground as Ia followed right behind him. He opened his eyes to see Ia standing over him, ready to assault him as she did to Murder. Bathory just braced himself and activated his shield, realizing there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Ia pounded down on him repeatedly, amplifying each punch with powerful energy. With each punch, Bathory sunk more and more into the ground. His shield was destroyed, and his barrier jacket continued taking her unending fury, even as it threatened to give out as well. Ia stopped, glaring at her victim. She watched as Bathory laid there, feeling like his chest had been crushed. His life was now truly in her hands, and both of them knew it.

"Ia," Bathory gasped, "don't become a murderer. If I can't ask for you to let Devin go, can I at least ask you to spare us both?"

Ia clenched her fists, bleeding heavily from the cuts across her body. As Bathory turned his eyes on them, he knew what answer she was giving. Though he prayed that this wouldn't be the end, he felt some peace that he would at least die fighting, rather than having his life taken by the TSAB in some celebrated execution. Ia raised her arms up again, summoning a huge white ball above her head. She went to shoot it down when a purple blast of energy crashed into her chest and sent her stumbling backwards. Ia lost her balance, falling down as Bathory quickly got up. He didn't need to turn around to know who saved him.

"_Thanks for coming back" _he said.

Behind him, Murder responded. "_I couldn't leave you to fight her. Not even you could take something like this alone."_

"_No more messing around. I'm getting your friend out of there, and I'm doing it now." _Bathory ran up to Ia, and as he did so, he brought Aphelion up to eye-level. "Aphelion, device switch to razor form" he shouted.

[**TRANSFORMING NOW**]

In the place where the small energy blade for Flight Driver usually was, several thick spikes of energy shot out. They curved around slightly as the blades approached their tips.

Bathory planted his feet down and vaulted forwards at Ia. He twisted through the air as he went to bring down Aphelion's new spikes on whatever defenses Ia had. She held her hand out weakly as she brought her shield up. Aphelion crashed into it, both sides putting all their remaining energy into trying to break or maintain the shield. They remained there in a power struggle for a few seconds until Bathory yelled another command.

"Razors, activate!"

The razors moved very quickly back and forth along the track, sawing into Ia's shield. They began to cut through, and as the shield broke, it kicked up an explosion around the two mages. When the smoke cleared, Bathory was aiming Aphelion down at Ia, who had given up. She admitted defeat as her body began to glow. When it had become a featureless form again, Ia began phasing out of Devin. Her compact form floated up out of his chest as the body regained the image of the teenage boy. She floated there in front of Bathory and held her head down in shame. Devin was twitching wildly as he regained control of his body.

"Devin," yelled Murder. He ran up to his buddy, dropping to his knees to check on him. Bathory moved to the side. Devin's eyes were closed tightly and he looked to be in great pain.

"I...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

He started to cry. Murder put his hand on Devin's head, trying to comfort him. When that did nothing, the boy looked up at Ia. "Ia, what did you do to him?" he asked.

"I...I screamed at him, for a long time. And I...I..." she turned away, unwilling to tell the full truth.

Yautja came running up to the group. "So what's with all the fireworks?" he said before noticing the twitching body on the ground. He knelt down as well to get a closer look at his customer. "The hell went on here?"

"Unison accident. Horrible stuff" said Bathory.

Devin continued to lie on the ground, apologizing to Ia. He didn't seem to notice any of the guys around him. Murder tried to pick him up, but Devin was just a dead weight in his friend's arms. "Guys, we have to get him to a hospital" said Murder.

Yautja scoffed. "Oh, what, and they won't ask why he's there? That would be like walking up to an officer and saying 'I'm a serial killer and some guy hit me, could you help me out'. No way are we going to a hospital."

"But we can't just leave him like this. He needs help."

"Well, you're on your own here, you two. And give me that thing back." Yautja quickly reached for Ia, but Bathory shot his hand out as well and grabbed her first. Ia gasped, and struggled weakly.

Yautja held his hand out. "Give her to me" he said. Instead, Bathory brought his hand back and released Ia, keeping her close to him.

"Come on, just hand her over, it's not hard."

Bathory looked down at Ia and back up. "No."

"What? Why not?"

"What are you going to do with her?"

"I spent my money on something that just screwed us over. I'm getting a refund" Yautja said boldly. He lunged for her, but Bathory moved to put himself in front of Ia.

"What are you doing? Get out of the way!" Yautja yelled.

Bathory kept Ia protected. "No."

"Why not?"

"She's not going back."

Yautja stood up, ready to take Ia for himself. Bathory got up as well, staying in his way.

"You have got be kidding me, man. Fucking. Give her. To me" said Yautja. Bathory just stood there, silently defying him.

Murder was still trying to get Devin to his feet, while Devin wasn't making any effort getting up. "Guys, can you please help me out? Devin really needs help."

Hearing police sirens on the horizon responding to the battle, Yautja let them answer Murder's question. He threw his hands up in the air. "Fine. We let the device go. But I'm not sticking around to try explaining this to anyone."

Bathory sighed. "Here's what we do. We take him to see Efra" he said as he pointed to Devin. "Hopefully she can help him out. I know she'll at least try. Ia can stay here if she wants. Sounds like a plan? Sounds like something you can actually follow?"

Yautja got up in Bathory's face. "What was that? Are you ordering me around now?" he asked. Bathory didn't respond, and instead walked over to Murder to help him pick Devin up. Ia stayed close by him, always hovering by his side and putting him between herself and Yautja.

Yautja relented. "Oh, go ahead" he said as Bathory and Murder rushed Devin back to the car. Yautja got in the driver's seat as Bathory and Murder carefully put Devin in the back. Devin still hadn't opened his eyes, and was still just weakly apologizing for what he'd done. Murder climbed into the backseat, and Bathory sat down next to Yautja. Ia hovered next to Bathory's right shoulder. The car started and Yautja drove off right before the cops reached the scene. As they drove, Bathory looked up at Ia.

"Ia, the TSAB is back there. If you want, you can go back and show yourself."

Ia floated in front of Bathory and over to the backseat, where she stood above Devin. She had the face of someone truly regretful. "I'm sorry for what I did. I want to make sure he's okay." She floated back to stay by her protector's side.

"Stick by me, Ia" he said as the car drove along. "As soon as you want to go, I'll make sure that you get to safety."


	5. No Voice Too Great Or Small Part 2

"Are you going to call her?"

Bathory spoke up as Yautja's car was a few minutes from his apartment. Yautja turned to Bathory and asked him what he meant.

"I'm asking you if you're going to call Efra and tell her we'll need her help. Or do you want to surprise her?" It had been several minutes since the four people and one unison device got into Yautja's car, either by themselves or with a lot of help. It had been a silent ride, only broken up by Devin's subdued crying, still begging for forgiveness the whole time. Ia Zver had taken up a permanent position behind Bathory's seat, looking down at Devin's pained expressions.

Yautja reached for his communications device. Despite the condition of the boy in the backseat, Yautja casually called his sister. She picked up after a few seconds.

"Heeey Yautja, how's everything going?" said Efra, simply happy to hear from her brother again.

"Efra, are you still at the apartment?"

"Yeah," she said. "Just been hanging around since you left."

"Alright, well, there's someone else who's going to really need your help." Yautja took a quick look at Devin. "He's injured and we're taking him back to the apartment. Can you be ready to examine him?"

Efra stuttered, trying to comprehend what was just said. "I...I guess I can...sure, I'll get the place ready." She jumped off the couch and ran around the living room, trying to clean it up quickly.

"Alright, thanks, we'll be there shortly." Yautja ended the call, not even saying goodbye as he put the comm device back in his pocket.

Bathory chuckled, and Yautja looked over at him.

"Well, that was very nonchalant of you."

Yautja rolled his head from side to side. "I still don't really want to do this." He looked in the backseat again, this time looking at both of the teens back there. Devin was lying across the backseat, his upper body being held up by Murder, who sat behind Bathory. Murder was still trying to communicate with his friend, but all his efforts led to one-sided conversations.

"Just hold on, man, you'll make it. Everything will be alright. Can you hear me? Devin? Can you please answer me?"

"I...I should have never...never done it...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, stop it please, I'm sorry... Let me go...just let me go..."

Yautja looked back at the road, pausing at Bathory before finishing. "_The things you talk me into..."_

"_He needs medical help quickly. He might just lose his mind if we don't help him."_

"_I don't know, it sounds like he's already lost it."_

"_You know what I mean. He needs something to reduce the trauma. If Efra can do anything, I'd rather her do that than have us leave him on his own." _Even though it was a mental conversation, Bathory could tell what Yautja was about to say. "_And I'm NOT letting you take Ia back. It doesn't matter what she did or didn't do for you; I'm stepping in here and saying that she's free."_

"_Fine, go ahead." _Yautja drove into the underground parking garage. Conveying how little he cared for Devin's plight, he slowly maneuvered the car into a parking spot and took his sweet time turning it off and getting out. By the time he had stood up in the garage and shut his car door, Bathory and Murder were already carrying Devin over to the elevators, Ia still hovering by Bathory. Yautja slowly walked after them, catching up as the elevator doors finally opened and the five of them entered the narrow space. Murder and Bathory had to turn Devin more vertical to fit, and the four human-sized mages took up a good chunk of room in the elevator. When the doors opened back up on the third floor, Devin was rushed over to the door of the Crawmer residence while Yautja again took his time, marveling at the finer details of the carpeting and walls that he'd never noticed before.

Bathory shifted around so one of his arms was somewhat free and knocked on the door. "Efra, it's us," he shouted. "We're back. Please open up."

Efra swung the door open, and before she could even talk, Bathory was guiding Murder and himself over to the living room couch. The two of them put Devin down slowly onto the couch as Efra tried butting in. She listened to Devin speak, his voice having gone soft from the non-stop pleading and apologizing he had been doing since he was freed. He wasn't even saying words anymore, only slurred sounds that resembled words and loud, pained gasps for air. Efra knelt down and looked the boy over.

"Well, he doesn't look physically injured, but I can tell that he's been through something, all right." Efra looked up at the crowd gathering behind her. "I'll try to relieve any pain or stress that he is... feeling..." Efra stopped as she finally noticed Ia Zver hovering next to Bathory. Not believing what she saw, she slowly stood up and moved closer to the unison device. Transfixed by the rare device, she seemed to have completely forgotten her patient. After a long, curious look, Efra confronted the three standing mages.

"What the hell could have possibly happened out there?"

All three of them stood there, dumbfounded. There was literally no other way aside from the truth to explain how Yautja, 'Thanus' and 'Arci' left for a simple job shadow session and returned with a bloody unison device and a boy in this condition. After the three mages looked back and forth between each other several times, Bathory turned to Efra and took control.

"Efra, you need to keep assisting him. We don't know how critical he is." He practically pushed Efra back to a kneeling position as she focused again on the boy. Efra put her hands on the boy, and they emitted a soft glow as she slowly moved her hands up and down Devin's body. Murder looked up at Yautja.

"What's she doing to him?" he asked.

"I'm casting a standard spell to dull activity," replied Efra. "That includes things such as senses, pain, and emotion. We don't want your friend fighting against the stronger, more powerful spells."

"Wow," said Murder. "Are you official?"

Efra smiled as she finished her first spell. "Not yet, but soon. Only a few more training hours to go until I can take the exam. Maybe by next week, I'll be working for the TSAB." Though her imagined future exited her, she had to remain focused on the boy in need in front of her. She closed her eyes and looked back slightly at Bathory. "Look at me, doing another live field operation on my own couch." Efra chuckled as she got back to work. "Thanus, when I fixed you up, I admit - I never thought I'd have to do something like that again."

Bathory gave a short laugh. "Yeah. That was fun, wasn't it?"

Efra shared in the laughter, but then looked back at the three guys behind her again. "I'm sorry, this is serious, I'll get right on it now." She turned back to Devin, concentrating as she focused a spell on his brain, trying to relieve more of the anguish and terror that he was feeling. If she could calm him down and get him to talk to her, that would be a good first step.

Bathory looked to his two companions and stepped backwards. "I think I better head out" he said as he walked to the door, the silent unison device going with him. Murder turned to him.

"Wait, hold on!" he shouted, moving over to Bathory. "Aren't you going to stay?"

Bathory shook his head. "No, I need to go." He opened the door. "_I have to take Ia back," _he added. "_I'm sorry about your friend. I'm sure he'll be alright_." He closed the door as Yautja and Murder watched him leave. Yautja was still annoyed that Bathory was forcing him to let Ia go, and Efra was too focused on Devin to notice him leaving. She just continued to stabilize Devin as Bathory left the apartment, walking with Ia into another quiet night.

Outside, Bathory stopped walking as he thought about Efra, and how she had been deceived by him and Yautja once again. Luckily, unbelievably, fortunately, beautifully, coldly, regretfully, unfortunately deceived. Again, his emotions were jumbled together as he sympathized for Efra. She seriously did not deserve to be lied to so often, especially when she was fixing her brother's and Bathory's dirty business. There's no doubt that she'll continue to wonder just how the night could have happened to bring what it did into the Crawmer residence. Bathory wished he could tell her what actually happened, and as she would put the pieces together, many other confusing moments brought on by false stories would clear up and reveal the truth. There's no way he could do that, though. The sadness that would come from knowing that her brother and his closest acquaintance were really both criminals would hurt too much to be worth it. So once again, he decided to just let the moment go, and hope it would be just another happening that Efra would wonder about from time to time.

Now, Bathory continued standing, figuring out what to do with Ia. Just pointing her to the nearest TSAB office seemed too risky. He knew that it was highly unlikely that anyone was waiting in ambush to recapture the unison device, but he still felt like he should be there with her in person when she is rescued. He racked his brain for a bit longer before deciding that he would just walk her himself to a station.

"Ia, stay close by me" he said as he started walking. With how rare devices like Ia were, he didn't even want someone seeing her floating by him. Thankfully, the night was drawing late, and traffic was dying off on the roads and sidewalks.

Ia turned to follow Bathory and leaned forwards slightly as she kept up next to him. "Excuse me," she said, "but I don't know your name. Who can I thank for this?"

Bathory began to speak, but paused. The longer he went without talking, the more curious Ia got. "I'm...It's not important" he finally said. In other circumstances, he'd want everyone to know that he, Bathory Kardenis, defeated and freed a powerful unison device, but of course he wasn't about to do that now.

It wasn't hard getting from Yautja's apartment to the southern Victamius TSAB station. All they had to do was walk up the street a few miles to a road which let directly to the station. Turning the corner, Bathory and Ia had a couple more minutes to talk.

"Ia, if it's not too tough for you, I'd like to know more about you. I've only seen unison devices a couple times, and always on TV. Tonight is the first time I've ever seen or talked to one directly."

Ia moved in front of Bathory and flew up to head level. Bathory quickly looked around. He was about to tell her to get back next to him, but the street was barren and he let Ia look straight at him. Though she was still tense and on guard, she was much friendlier now and spoke to him without hesitation.

"I was formed by the combined efforts of the planet Nemelendelle Armed Forces in response to the successful creation of Reinforce Zwei. My duty was to provide support and protection to mages who were battling for control of major resources on the planet. However, I was incompatible with a majority of those who I was asked to support, and could only provide weak benefits to the others. Few people understood how devices like me were supposed to work, and I was sent far way to an orbital repurposing facility to see if I could be made to be compatible with the mages whose service I was supposed to be under..."

Along with Ia's voice, another voice directly entered Bathory's head. He jumped in surprise as Murder Caliente began speaking. "_Hey, can you hear me? Am I coming through_?"

Bathory looked back in the general direction of Yautja's apartment. "_I hear you, Murder. How are things going? Is your friend pulling through?"_

"_He finally opened his eyes shortly after you left. He seems to recognize me, but still couldn't say anything. Efra's still working on him, and Yautja hasn't kicked me out yet."_

Bathory looked back at Ia, to see she had been talking the whole time. Between her voice and Murder's voice, Bathory could only focus on one, and Murder's was winning out.

"_That's good to hear. I took a gamble that Efra could help with the mental damage that he was put through. Now, Murder, why are you contacting me?"_

"_Well, it's actually about you and Efra and Yautja. I'm wondering about something."_

"_Alright. What is it?"_

"_You said that you've been here for around two months, and that Yautja tried to kill you. Efra was also talking having to patch you up on her couch. I'm wondering - is all of that related? What happened to you when you met them?"_

Bathory smiled widely. Seeing it, Ia stopped talking and frowned. "Why are you smiling! None of that was funny." She crossed her arms. "...at least not to me..."

Bathory was quick to comfort her. "Nonono, sorry Ia, I'm listening, I just thought of something else. Please continue."

Ia believed him and turned back to continue her story. As she did, Bathory replied to Murder. "_You're pretty good at putting things together. I met Yautja and Efra after barely escaping an attack. Efra helped me out and healed me up, while Yautja tried to put a knife in my throat. A real family dynamic they have, don't they?"_

Bathory could imagine Murder standing in the Crawmer apartment, trying his hardest to figure out what happened. "_Well, could you tell me about it?" _asked the boy.

"_Not right now. Maybe later."_

"_Ohhhh fine."_

Bathory smiled again, imagining the whole procession. Of course, this caused Ia to again become annoyed and fly back to Bathory's side.

"Sorry, Ia, I'm getting distracted," he said to her. "But I mean it this time; I really, really am paying attention."

Ia reached out and grabbed Bathory's shirt with her hand. "It's okay. I'm not really in the story mood anyways."

And so now that Bathory was done thinking about past events, he had all the time in the world to resume thinking about them. Sparked by Murder's question, then events of that first night in the new city continued to dance around in his head.

* * *

.

* * *

March 22nd, 0076  
Victamius  
10:15 PM

A large semi-truck turned off the highway as soon as it passed the Victamius border. It drove into a large shipyard with identical trucks lining the sides, and carefully parked in an empty spot. The driver stepped out of the front and went to the very back to open the trailer door. Once it was up, the driver climbed up into the trailer and maneuvered around his actual cargo. Behind all that was Bathory, lying down and bleeding onto a thin blanket. He didn't seem to hear the driver's footsteps.

"Alright, come on, you gotta get out now" said the drive as he helped Bathory up. The mage's eyes were bloodshot and he stumbled around as he got to his feet. He had been awake for the entire ride from Damier to Victamius - in fact, he had probably been awake for over a day by this point. He'd barely gotten out of Damier in one piece, but wasn't thinking about any of that at all. He just considered himself lucky that he'd been able to bribe someone to take him directly to another city. If Bathory had to go from city to city all by himself one more time, he didn't think he could make it anymore.

He patted the driver's shoulder as the man helped him down from the truck onto the ground. "Thanks for everything" he forced out as he walked away as best he could. He left small pools of blood behind him from the cuts all across his body, and the pain from them forced him to gasp with each step he took, but he made himself think about one thing and one thing only - "Find the raven on 223rd, and tell him you're willing to work". Bathory had been given those directions by some blurry face that he had already forgotten, but he was intent on following them. In his condition, he needed to find work and protection as soon as possible.

Looking at the city grid of Victamius, Bathory was already by 223rd. The city ended at 226th; he only had to travel a little ways to get to the correct street. Still, it took him twice as long as it should have to get there. When he finally got to the road, Bathory looked left and right as he tried to 'find the raven'. What was that supposed to mean, anyways? Was the raven a person? Was it a codename? Should he just go from building to building, knocking on every single door and asking everyone who answers if he or she is who he's looking for? Daunted, Bathory sat down on the sidewalk. He was alone - no other humans could be seen or heard around him. The only sounds in the sky were the humming of generators and a single faint caw from a bird that sounded far off down the street. He was about to give up when Aphelion glowed and began speaking.

[**MASTER, I BELIEVE I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR - I HAVE IDENTIFIED THE SOUND THAT BIRD IS MAKING AS BEING THE CRY OF A RAVEN**]

Bathory looked at his device. "You're not saying..."

[**I BELIEVE THAT THIS REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION - PERHAPS IT IS THE SIGN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR**]

Bathory just sighed as he forced himself back to his feet. He winced as he started walking off towards the bird's caw. "I really hope you're right, Aphelion. And you better hope so too." He walked another few blocks down the street, the cries sounding louder and louder. Finally, when it seemed like the sound was right above him, he stopped. He looked up at the roof of the building in front of him, and there was a solitary black raven, calling out to the wind. It noticed Bathory and flew off the top of the roof down to a gated passage near the building. It rested on top of the gate, one eye on the man as he walked up in front of the bird.

Bathory kept looking at the bird, not sure if this was right. There was a raven right in front of him, but if this wasn't the answer, he'd be back to square 1. he opened his mouth, and the bird looked right at him.

"I'm willing to work."

As soon as he finished the sentence, the bird began to glow. Stepping back, Bathory allowed the raven to transform, and the small glow grew bigger and bigger, taking the shape of a human. When the transformation was done, a young man stood on the sidewalk. His hair was as black as his feathers were, his jacket had a ring of black feathers padding the neck, and the guy's legs were almost as thin as sticks. His image resembled that of the bird he had just been.

"Welcome," said the man, reaching behind him and opening the gate. He beckoned Bathory in, and the tired, bleeding, relieved mage entered swiftly. The other man entered behind him. The passage just let to an open square of concrete, walled in by the buildings on the next street over. As Bathory entered it, the bird-like mage behind him went over to a back door and knocked on it. "Shia, come out, there's someone here" he said. The door opened and yet another man age 20 or so entered the small courtyard. He approached Bathory, who looked at him cautiously.

"Hello, hello" said the new man as he shook Bathory's hand. "My name is Shia, and I run things around here. Those are really the only things you need to know." He quickly looked down at the bloody cuts across Bathory's body. "Oooookay. Rough night, I guess. Anyways, I don't think you've been around here before. Good. What do you want to do?" Shia finally let Bathory get a word in. Before answering him, Bathory looked over at the bird-like mage who was leaning against the wall of the courtyard.

Shia followed his gaze. "Oh, him?" he said. "He's my familiar, Raven. He's just standing watch."

"Wait," said Bathory, "you made a familiar out of a raven and named him Raven?"

Shia made an over-exaggerated shrug. "The name fit. Anyways, don't worry about him." Shia turned to Raven and raised his voice some. "Raven, go keep watch at the gate."

Raven bowed slightly and headed out of the courtyard. As he moved away from the wall, he jumped in the air and quickly turned back into his normal form, flying over to perch on top of the gate.

Shia turned back to Bathory. "Anyways, I've already got a bunch of people doing things for me. What makes you so special?"

Bathory looked down at his bloodied clothes. "Well, I'm stronger than most mages and I can stand up to anyone the TSAB might throw at you. I'll make sure everything you want to happen does happen. I mean, look at me, I've fought off people who had the best ranks in the city."

Shia looked up and to the right, and put his hand on his chin. Again, he exaggerated his pose. "How do I know that, though? How do I know you didn't just get beaten up and fail something you were doing. Maybe you're running to me to escape the ire of some other gang, and I don't really want that."

Bathory grimaced as he went to pull out Aphelion. He hated playing this card so early, but he needed to get set up in this city soon. He grabbed the green gem in his palm and held it out towards Shia. "I'm not just some average person. This is my intelligent device." Aphelion spoke, knowing to hide its true identity as well.

[**HELLO SHIA - MY MASTER WOULD LIKE TO ASSIST YOU IN YOUR SERVICES**]

Shia leaned in, intrigued. He stared at the gem as it talked, and then looked back up at Bathory. "Wait," he said, "so that's not just a storage device?"

Aphelion answered for Bathory. [**I AM AN INTELLIGENT DEVICE SERIAL NUMBER 00570-8324-1096 - I HAVE SERVED MY MASTER FOR 13 YEARS 152 DAYS 3 HOURS AND 12 MINUTES - I HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED FOR COMBAT 2732 TIMES AND MY MASTER HAS AN EXPECTED ENCOUNTER SURVIVAL RATE OF 96.38 PERCENT**]

Shia took it all in and then looked back at Bathory. "So you've got some experience. Gotcha." If Bathory was more alert, he would have thought more of Shia turning his head to the side and quickly nodding. He might have remembered that Raven was over there, and would have then expected Shia and Raven to be setting up an attack. But in his tired state, Bathory just kept talking, oblivious.

"I can pretty much do anything you want me to do. Drug running, smuggling, trading, sabotage..." Bathory paused before continuing. "...I'll do kidnapping and robbery and such if you really want me to, I guess, but that's where I sort of draw the line."

Shia turned around and walked back a bit, thinking. Again, had Bathory expected a surprise attack, he may have noticed Raven taking flight off the gate and flying high up into the air over the courtyard. He also may have thought that instead of thinking about what deal he was going to offer the proven mage, Shia was telling his familiar to begin the attack.

"Well," said Shia, "I think I know something you can do. Tomorrow, there's a pickup that I'll need someone to get, and maybe I'll have you-"

[**PROTECTION**] shouted Aphelion, putting up a solid green triangle above Bathory as Raven slammed down into it. Unlike its master, Aphelion didn't feel tired, groggy, and drained. It had been watching out for an attack, and acted on its own to protect its master. As Bathory finally caught up, he glared at the man who had been playing him the whole time.

"You were setting me up the whole time, weren't you?" he shouted over the sounds of the attack crashing into his shield above him. "You're all the same" he said as he sent a shockwave of magic through the shield, launching Raven into a wall. Bathory quickly transformed into his barrier jacket, and Aphelion became a weapon around his right arm. He went to follow up with more attacks against the familiar, but Raven quickly got up. He started to run, and as his target aimed a shot at him, Raven went to transform back into a bird. This time, however, from the blob of light came a whole flock of birds that shot off in all directions. Bathory looked at them all getting away, and shot up at a random one. His shot hit the bird, which just disappeared. The real Raven was somewhere else in the illusion.

Back in the element, Bathory knew to block whatever attack Shia had prepared for him. He formed his shield behind him and waited, but nothing came. He turned back, and Shia was backing away from him slowly. Bathory brought Aphelion up and pushed up on the fearful man.

"Look at you," said Bathory angrily. "Your familiar attacks me, I drive him off, and you start backing up." Shia's back touched the wall behind him as Bathory got closer and continued. "I wasn't lying when I said I have just been through something that was MUCH worse than some pathetic ambush in some back alley. What makes you think you can do like that?"

[**CLAMP BIND**] said Aphelion, and Shia found himself stuck in place as Bathory got up next to him. Aggravated, Bathory pushed Aphelion into Shia's stomach and held it there. Shia's eyes pleaded Bathory to let him go, but he held Aphelion there, ready for a bit of torture.

"This will hurt," said Bathory, getting ready to fire an attack. "Just warning you."

[**PROTECTION**] shouted Aphelion again, and Bathory turned around and looked up, blocking another of Raven's dive-bombing attacks. "Oh, dammit," said Bathory, annoyed. "Do you really think that will work on me-"

Shia surged his magic into breaking the binds, and he did so easily. The resulting force flung Bathory back, and the two attackers rushed him, pinning him to the ground before Bathory could react.

"Ha!" shouted Shia. "Just kidding!"

Bathory fought to push the two off of him, but he couldn't. Already weak, he didn't have the strength to escape. Raven held Bathory's right arm out to the side, Aphelion pointed harmlessly at the wall. Bathory tried to free his arm, which only resulted in a kick to the head.

"That's a pretty nice device you have" said Shia. "How about this: we'll let you live if you give us your device."

Bathory didn't even consider it for a second. "No."

Shia smiled. "Actually, I'm taking it no matter what." He turned to Raven. "Raven, cut it off."

Bathory struggled harder. "Wha...what do you mean by that?"

Shia gave an even bigger smile and reached behind him. He pulled out a knife. Putting it all together, Bathory panicked and did everything he could to break free as Shia handed the knife to Raven. He looked over at Bathory's arm. "Raven," he instructed, "below the elbow if you can."

"With pleasure" said the familiar, putting the knife to Bathory's flesh. Feeling like his heart was about to explode, he screamed out "Aphelion, Sunburst!"

The firing ports again propped up out of Aphelion, locking on to the two attackers. Before they could stop it, two burst of magic shot straight at them, tossing them to the side. They both fell down as Bathory quickly activated Flight Driver and rolled over. Aphelion cut into the ground and he took off, breaking through the gate to the courtyard.

Bathory took off down 223rd Street. He looked behind him, and swore as he saw a black bird chasing him from out of the corridor. He turned down a random street and tried to lose Raven, but the familiar kept up with every turn. With every building that he went around, and with every sudden move that he took, Raven not only kept up with him but began to gain ground. Bathory flew down alleyways and across streets, trying to get into a more crowded part of the city, with the bird catching up quickly. Both of them were going so fast that they could barely react to what was in front of them, and that finally hit a breaking point. Bathory flew on the side of a row of buildings and launched across 211th Street, only realizing too late that he'd be right in front of another semi-truck. He zipped through the air, the windshield of the semi coming inches from his foot. In slow motion, he looked back and watched as Raven T-boned the semi-truck, crashing into it and causing him and the truck to crash sideways onto the road. Bathory paused for a little bit to see if Raven was getting back up, but the bird was just lying passed out on top of the wrecked truck.

Bathory dropped to his feet and just began to run. Completely exhausted, he simply ran blindly in a haze for an unknown amount of time. Finally, even the legs of the AA-rank mage gave out, and he dropped powerless to the road. Before he even landed, he had blacked out.

[**MASTER, PLEASE RESPOND**] said Aphelion. There was no response. [**MASTER, YOU NEED IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE**] replied the device. When its master again failed to respond, Aphelion desperately channeled any last bits of energy to glow brightly as a makeshift beacon. A car or two rushed past the mage, honking angrily before going on their way. Aphelion continued to pulse brightly, and finally one of the cars that drove by slammed on the brakes and came to a stop. A woman got out of the car and ran over to Bathory, kneeling down and rolling him over.

"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?" she asked. Again, with its master incapacitated, Aphelion took over.

[**MY MASTER REQUIRES IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE**] it restated. Bathory slowly woke up and opened his eyes, but his vision and hearing were both fuzzy. The woman saw his eyes open.

"Ok, you're alive" she said, feeling somewhat relieved. "Your device says you need help. Should I call an ambulance?"

Bathory was still unable to make out anything she said. "Wha...what was that?" he asked.

"Can you hear me? You look hurt - really, really badly hurt. Should I call an ambulance?"

"No!" Bathory shouted, having heard that last part clearly. "No, no ambulance. I can't go to the hospital. Not there." He rolled back over and tried to get up, but was having extreme difficulty.

"Why?" asked the woman. "Why can't you? Look at you - you need to go."

"I'm...I'm..." Bathory fell back down again. "I just can't, okay? I need to get...get back."

"Well, then here, hold on" said the woman. She pressed her fingers to the injured man's head and shut her eyes. As she focused, her fingers began to glow and Bathory felt the numbness in his muscles leaving his body. After she did that, Bathory was able to stagger to his feet.

"Thanks," he said to her. "You a healer?"

"In training. Here, here, come with me," said the woman as she led him over to her car. "I've got more supplies back at my apartment. I'm taking you there. You can't just stay here on the streets." Bathory weighed his options as the woman helped him into her car. Her intentions seemed good, and she seemed like she just wanted to help, so he figured he'd let himself go with.

"Thanks again, whoever you are" he said as he lied down in the backseat.

"My name's Efra," said the woman, buckling her seatbelt before driving off to get back home. "Efra Crawmer. What's your name?" she asked.

"Oh, mine? It's, uhhhh, Thanus."

"Alright...Thanus...and your last name?"

"It's, uhhhhh, it's, uhhhhh..." Bathory tried his hardest to think of a good last name. He had a massive mental block, though, and the only thing he could think of was the ambush. Names, names, names, Shia, Raven, Shia, Raven, Shia... oh fine, Shia it is.

"Shia," said Bathory. "My name's Thanus Shia." He laughed at the absurdity of the scene. "Not thinking too great now, as you see." In the safety of the backseat, Aphelion finally dropped the barrier jacket, and Bathory changed back to his street clothes. Efra looked back as she kept driving.

"Are you an officer? Were you on some mission that went wrong?"

Bathory closed his eyes, and just began forming his false identity as he went along. He decided that he'd probably get better help as a TSAB mage than as some random thug, so a TSAB mage he became. "Yeah. My squad and I, we, uhh, were going to do this raid, and we got attacked and separated. I barely made it out, as you can see."

"Wow," Efra gasped. "If you want to tell me, how was it Thanus? What did you do?" She got more energetic as she asked him all sorts of questions at once. "What was the battle like? How did it go? Was it really flashy?"

"Whoa, slow down" said Bathory, trying to sit up. Efra's temporary numbing spell was wearing off, and pain began to shoot through his body again. He cringed and fell back onto the seats.

Efra looked back again. "We're almost there Thanus, please hold on." Knowing she'd need help getting him up to her place, she called her brother and hoped that he'd be home. From the backseat, Bathory could only hear Efra speaking. She spoke to 'Yautja' about helping her carry an injured officer up to their place, and then went on about how she was serious and wasn't kidding. Finally, she thanked him and ended the call. By the end of it, Bathory's vision and hearing were staring to go fuzzy again.

"Hang on, please, just a minute to go" said Efra, speeding the last stretch of the way to her apartment. She quickly pulled in to the parking garage and parked by Yautja Crawmer, who was waiting to help carry the wounded officer. Bathory felt arms around his shoulders as he was dragged out of the backseat. Pain forced him to scream as the brother and sister tried to get him to his feet. Efra quickly used another temporary spell on Bathory, allowing him to at least lean against the car. She talked to her brother quickly about needing to get her cards and took off running over to the staircase. Recomposing himself, Bathory looked at the man next to him.

"Thanks for all the help, both of you."

Yautja looked around paranoid. "So you say you're an officer, right?"

"Yeah. Thanus...uhhhhhhh...Shia, armed forces mage." Bathory closed his eyes. "Ambushed, barely made it out, other stuff. Again, I'm so glad that the two of you are doing this for me-"

Efra's brother suddenly kneed Bathory in the stomach. As he was stunned, Yautja grabbed him around the neck and dragged him behind a row of cars parked nearby. Bathory was dropped to the ground and just barely managed to grab Yautja's arm and hold it back before a jagged knife could be put into his throat. The two pushed with all their might, one trying to bring his arm down and the other forcing the arm to stay up. However, from all the events that had just taken place, Bathory was slowly losing the fight.

"The hell are you doing?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Nice try with your little stakeout" said Yautja, anger fueling him. "I don't know how you got my sister involved, but I'm not buying this shit. Not at all." The knife slowly began to touch Bathory's neck, and he knew that to talk his way out, he'd have to tell the truth.

"Wait!" Bathory shouted. "I'm not an officer! I was lying, trust me. I made that up." Yautja held back a little, wondering whether to believe him or not.

"How do I know you're not lying? And even if you aren't, you'll just get me arrested if I let you go." He resumed trying his hardest to kill Bathory.

"Here," Bathory said, doing the absolute last thing he ever wanted to do. "My name's Bathory Kardenis. I'm a criminal, on the run for homicide. Please, I'm definitely not a cop now."

Yautja stopped. He had heard some news reports over the last year about a man with that name. Ex-TSAB officer, killed his captain, still out and loose. "Are you?" he asked. "You do kind of look familiar."

"Here, hold on. I swear to you, I'm not lying." Bathory released his right arm and held it out. "Aphelion," he ordered, "bring up my profile."

[**RETRIEVING PROFILE**]

The device projected Bathory's TSAB profile onto a screen. Yautja looked it over, and everything checked out. He looked down at the mage under him, who looked exactly like the picture of Bathory in his profile. Yautja pulled the knife away. "So," he asked, "what were you really doing when my sister found you?"

Bathory decided that if he had already gone this far, he might as well explain everything. "I just got into this city tonight, and I was looking for work. I've ended up doing all kinds of underground stuff to survive, you know - smuggling, trading, fighting off the TSAB, that kind of stuff."

Yautja was still looking at the profile. "Well, yeah, you're an AA. Go with what you know."

"Exactly. So I met with someone, offered them my services, and instead they just attack me. Got away, and your sister found me lying in the road."

Speaking of Efra, she had come back down to the garage with the mana cards she retrieved. "Yautja? Thanus? Where are you?" she asked, searching the parking lot.

Yautja looked down at Bathory. "You know," he whispered, "I actually set up that kind of stuff, and I'd like to have someone of your caliber. You definitely won't go squealing to the cops, so I think I could trust you."

Bathory whispered back. "And is that why you just tried to kill me?"

"Yeah, I thought you were running a sting or something."

Bathory rolled his eyes. And you think the way to avoid heat is to kill the guy doing it, he thought. Still, he accepted Yautja's offer.

"Whatever. It's a deal."

The two quickly shook hands, and they Yautja stood up. "Efra," he shouted, "we're over here." Yautja's sister came running over to Bathory.

"Alright, these will help you a lot more" said Efra, kneeling down again. She put her left hand on Bathory's chest while holding a mana card in the other hand. She began another healing spell, and with the boosted effect from the card, it almost completely relieved the pain. After she was done, the Crawmer siblings helped him to his feet and Efra walked them over to the stairs.

"Ok, Yautja, let's take him up to our place. Thanus, when we get there, I'll work on all of your actual injuries. Though you might feel fine, you still need a lot of work."

"Thank you again, both of you" said Bathory, meaning it in two ways. Yautja looked at the man he was helping out.

"_Bathory, can you hear me?"_

"_Loud and clear."_

"_Soon as Efra's done with you, let's talk about what you can do for me."_

"_Sure. I'll listen."_

* * *

.

* * *

Back in the present, Bathory and Ia stood in front of the TSAB station. Its brightly lit interior welcomed them, but Bathory paused, not wanting to get much closer. "Ia, there you go," he said. "Step through those doors, and this whole nightmare will be over."

The unison device nodded. "Thank you, whoever you are. I'll...I'll remember you, and what you did for me." She leaned forward and began to float over to the doors of the building. As she got closer, they opened automatically. As Bathory looked on, the man at the receptionist desk looked up at Ia and paused, confused. Before the doors shut again, the mage outside watched as multiple people got up, surprised at what they saw. The doors closed on the image of Ia floating towards the stunned workers. After that, Bathory turned a random direction and started walking. He found comfort in his solitude as he walked uninterrupted down the street. However, as if on a schedule, Aphelion broke the silence.

[**MASTER, AFTER THE PREVIOUS TWO BATTLES, YOU ARE ONLY OPERATING AT 86 PERCENT OF YOUR HIGHEST CAPABILITY**]

"Yeah, I thought my defenses were a little weak."

[**I AGAIN ASK THAT YOU PLEASE TAKE A SUSTAINED REST, MY MASTER**]

Bathory sighed. "Again, Aphelion, I just don't have the time to do something like that. I wish I did. I really do. But I have to push on every single day, and there's no time in there to stop that." The two of them continued going along quietly. Bathory hardly ever asked his device what it actually felt or thought about a particular event, but what happened with Ia kept eating him up. He sat down when he reached a bus stop and rested Aphelion on his lap.

"Aphelion, about tonight - what did you think of all that? About what happened, about Ia, about me - I want you to be honest with me now."

[**YOU RETURNED A DEVICE BELONGING TO THE TIME SPACE ADMINISTRATION BUREAU BACK TO ITS RIGHTFUL OWNERS - I BELIEVE YOU DID THE CORRECT THING**]

"Yeah, but what about before that? When I let her be bought and sold, and when I just stood by and let all that happen - what about that? It's different transporting money or other substances than it is to transport people, or a device like her. She had a mind, and emotions, her own wants and needs, and I hate that I didn't just let her go as soon as I got her. She was suffering, Aphelion. She was just being taken advantage of, and I let it keep going." Bathory felt ashamed for the first time in a while. Aphelion stayed quiet, not sure of what to say.

Bathory picked up Aphelion and looked directly at it. "Aphelion," he asked, curious, "What will...what would you do if I died? Where would you like to go? Back to dad, maybe? Then again, you'd probably just remind him of what I did, so maybe not. Of course, they'll probably just destroy you if they get me, but, you know, just in case they don't..."

[**MASTER, I WILL NOT EVEN IMAGINE SUCH AN EVENT - I WOULD GIVE MY LIFE TO PROTECT YOU**]

Bathory felt warm as he twirled the device round in his hand. "As would I" he said. "As would I."

He lied down on the bench, wrapping the string on his device back up around his right arm. Both of them rested, comforted by their mutual agreement.


	6. Projectionists

May 26th, 0076  
Siba Capital  
8:15 PM

Fate T. Harlaown entered her hotel room, heading straight for the bed. Collapsing onto it, she thought of all the records she had read and the people she had interviewed in the last day. No matter where Bathory Kardenis was now, he had certainly left a large trail of criminal cohorts in his wake. However, there wasn't much Fate had that could help her predict where Bathory had gone next; she had now asked five different cities to give her daily crime reports, hoping that any of them could be matched to the runaway mage, but she hadn't had any luck yet. However, she had received a message from Negati Winter of Victamius a few hours ago, requesting Fate to contact her. Fate said she'd get to it once everything else for the day was finished.

With everything now done, she forced herself to sit up for one last video communication. She wanted to just take off her enforcer uniform and sprawl out on the bed in very, very informal wear, but that would have to wait a bit longer.

"Bardiche, contact Lieutenant Winter."

[**YES SIR - INITIALIZING THE CALL NOW**]

The video screen appeared in front of Fate, and as Bardiche waited for the other side to accept transmission, a 3D version of the TSAB emblem slowly spun around as a background. After a few seconds, the screen changed from the spinning emblem to a video feed of Negati, standing in the brightly lit halls of the southern Victamius station.

"First Lieutenant Negati Winter, reporting." Negati barely held back a large yawn as she spoke.

Fate realized what time it would be over in Victamius. "I apologize, Lieutenant, it's the middle of the night where you are. Would you like me to call back at a more suitable hour?"

"No, no, we can talk now. I'm just doing extreme overtime." She made a weird face as she again tried not to yawn in front of Fate. Fate crossed her legs and responded.

"So, Negati, what do you want to tell me? I'm listening."

Negati quickly glanced at a room that was off-screen. "Well, about six hours ago, we heard activity going on in part of the city. We were too late getting there to find out what was going on, and we didn't get any of the parties responsible. We left that as it was, until about a half hour later, a unison device showed up at the station."

Fate leaned forwards. "A unison device?"

"I know!" said Negati. "Trust me, a small floating device that none of us had ever seen before just strolls on up to the front desk at the station. She's talked to us some, and this is what we have: her name is Ia Zver, and she was responsible for the battle we heard earlier. She says that after the battle, she was brought here by the guy who defeated her. When she explained what he looked like, he was matching who I saw on the highway the last time we talked. And so, it might be Bathory again."

"Negati," said Fate, "if Ia is still there, may I please speak to her?"

"Sure thing. She's here - I was watching her until you called me." Negati walked over to an open door and entered it. Inside the room were two occupants - a foot-tall girl sitting on a desk, and a regular man talking to her. Negati called out to 'Satel', and the man looked at her.

"I have someone here who would like to talk to Ia. Can you dismiss her for a little bit?"

The man looked at Fate's image on the screen that followed Negati, back at Ia, back at the screen, and then at his fellow Lieutenant. "Negati, I can't just clear her to talk to anyone."

"But this isn't just anyone. This is an Enforcer." Negati motioned wildly at Fate's image on the screen. "And not just any Enforcer! Oh no. This is FATE. TEE. HARLAOWN I have here."

Satel slowly looked over at Fate, who nodded at him.

"Enforcer Harlaown, requesting permission to speak with Ia" said Fate from her hotel room.

Unlike Negati, who was making a big deal about the woman she was speaking to, Satel looked like he couldn't care less. He looked back at Negati and grinned. "Prove it."

"PROVE IT!? Prove what? That this really is Fate?" Though Negati seemed to be shouting at the man, it didn't seem like there was any actual anger between them. It was the type of argument that friends or work partners would have, with them both pulling each other's leg. Fate held up her Enforcer badge for the camera and repeated the standard authorization speech.

"I, Fate Testarossa Harlaown, have been authorized and granted the position of Enforcer by the Time Space Administration Bur-"

"Alright, alright, just messing with you" said Satel, walking away and leaving Fate, Negati, and Ia alone. Ia watched as Negati walked over and sat down next to her, lowering and shrinking the screen down to Ia's proportions. Ia looked at Fate but kept quiet. She seemed to still be a little scared and a little unsure of what would happen to her now.

"Hey," said Negati, nudging the device, "The woman's with me. It's ok. Tell her what you told me earlier."

"I...I told you a lot" said Ia, softly.

Negati patted Ia on the back with one finger. "Why don't you tell Fate about the man who brought you to us. She'd like to know about him."

The unison device nodded, looking up at the enforcer. "I arrived here, on this planet, and was given to someone who wanted to unison with me. One of the men who delivered me was... well, he knew I didn't want to be there. He stayed nearby, even when I had an accident and attacked everyone. I thought for sure that I'd be taken back to whoever gave me away, but this man - he didn't tell me his name, he said it wasn't important - he made sure I got here."

"He sounds...very noble, actually" said Fate. "Can you tell me what he looked like?"

Ia nodded again. Before she began, Bardiche divided the screen on Fate's end, bringing up Bathory Kardenis's TSAB profile and the sketch of the highway incident culprit that Negati provided last time.

"He looked pretty normal," said Ia, looking off into the distance as she tried to fully imagine him again. "Same height as the others, skinny, seemed a little injured, even before we fought."

Fate was typing Ia's description into her terminal, but stopped when Ia said that last part. "What do you mean when you say you two fought?"

Ia began to hesitate again, out of shame towards herself more than out of anything else. "I took over the person who wanted to fuse with me...I said I wouldn't be forced around anymore...I fought back, even against the man who wanted to help me. I though he was lying! I didn't know he wasn't! But he won...He won in the end, and I let go."

Fate looked at Ia, becoming more serious. "Do you remember how he fought? What his style was like? Can you tell me anything like that?"

Unknowingly, Ia began to hover away as she thought. Negati simple grabbed the screen and carried it with her as she followed behind the device.

"Uhhh, hmmmmm, let's see. He'd try to get in close, I think. And he was green, very green. His attacks, his shield, his bindings..."

From what Fate had seen, the color of Bathory's magic was a dark green. The similarities between him and this figure in Victamius kept growing. "Interesting," she muttered.

Ia quit floating around the room then and hovered, looking at the screen again. "Anything else?"

Fate looked over her report, wondering if there was any other information she'd like to have about the mysterious figure. "Yes. If you could answer, there are a few more things I'd like to ask you-"

Bardiche interrupted his master. [**INCOMING CONTACT FROM GENERAL PARKENSINE, SIR**]

Fate looked at the call she was already part of. "Tell him that I'll talk to him as soon as I'm done here."

[**AFFIRMATIVE, SIR - REJECTING WITH MESSAGE**]

Fate looked back at Ia. "Sorry about that," she said. "Anyways, could you tell me more about the man's physical appeara-"

[**FORCED HACKING ATTEMPT IN PROGRESS, SIR**] said Bardiche.

"What?" Fate screamed. She focused on the yellow device as dots of light spread across its surface in a random pattern. "Bardiche, go into lockdown."

[**BUT SIR, THAT WILL END ALL CURRENT TRANSMISSIONS**]

"That's fine, go ahead." She looked up at Negati and Ia, who were both looking confused. "Sorry," Fate continued, "I'll talk to you later. I don't know what's going on."

[**LOCKDOWN ATTEMPT UNSUCCESSFUL - I HAVE BEEN BREACHED**]

As Fate watched, a second screen appeared in front of her. As it opened up, she saw General Parkensine glaring at her from the other side. On their end, Negati and Ia also saw a second screen showing the General appear before them.

"Enforcer," said the General coldly, "I shouldn't have to force you to tell me what you're doing."

Fate tried her best to hide her anger. "Sir, I was going to report to you as soon as I finished with this other conversation."

"But that's the thing!" Parkensine put his hands down on the desk he was sitting at. "I should be part of this. Are you trying to hide information from me?"

"No sir, not at all," said Fate, shaking her head. "Like I said, I was going to report to you as soon as I was done here."

"Well, you will not reject my calls again, do you hear me? As long as this investigation goes on, I will have full transparency from you. Understand, Enforcer?" Parkensine dragged that last word out syllable by syllable, and Fate realized that he was the type who reveled in his rank.

"Yes, General" she responded.

"Very good." He looked over at the other screen showing Ia and Negati, but he kept talking to Fate. "Tell me, what were you talking about with the Lieutenant before I arrived?"

Fate sighed. "Well, we have another potential report of Bathory in Victamius. Six hours ago, a unison device arrived at a TSAB station saying she fought and was escorted by someone who again showed similarities to Bathory. I'm still not sure, but the resemblances are growing."

Parkensine stared at the unison device through the screen. Though he sounded like he was speaking to Fate, he expected Ia to answer. "What do you mean 'escorted by'? What happened?"

Negati tapped Ia with her finger again. "Ia," she whispered, "this is a General. Could you please talk to him?"

Ia looked at the older man. "He and I fought, and he won. I thought he'd be mean, but he just wanted to protect me. I followed along him, and sure enough, he brought me right here."

"AND YOU JUST LET HIM?" Parkensine got up and threw his chair to the ground. Though neither of the other parties could see it, many people outside Parkensine's office looked in on him through the window in his door.

Ia cowered. "I...I didn't...didn't know he was so bad! I'm sorry! I should have told them to go after him, shouldn't I?"

Parkensine took a few deep breaths as he righted his chair again and sat in it. "Well, we still don't know if it's really Bathory. It could have been someone else." He paused, and both Fate and the Victamius group waited for him to keep going, scared of speaking out of turn. After he thought for a bit, he continued. "Listen, Lieutenant, I need you to figure out if that's Bathory or not. I need definite, one-hundred-percent confirmation. I don't want to move in on something that's a false lead. Step up police activity and punishments even more, but again, don't tell the public anything. Every criminal knows ten other criminals - if he's in there somewhere, you'll find out soon enough."

"Understood," said Negati. "Anything else?"

"Nope. You are dismissed."

Negati ended her side of the conversation, and her video feed closed. Though Fate wanted to keep talking to Ia and Negati, she fully understood Negati wanting to sever from talking to Parkensine. Speaking of, Parkensine turned his attention to the one screen left.

"Anyways, Enforcer, you shall continue your work as you are until we receive any confirmation of Bathory's location. Am I clear?"

Fate saluted the General. "Yes sir."

"Then unless you have any other questions or reports, you are dismissed."

Fate's hand dropped from her head. "Sir, I do have one question, if I may ask."

"Go ahead" said Parkensine.

Fate looked at the report she had been typing. "If that person in Victamius was Bathory, don't you think he would have been acting a little... out of line?"

Parkensine quickly responded. "What do you mean?"

"Well, from your personal description of Bathory, he is unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous. That doesn't sound like someone who would help return a lost unison device to the TSAB."

Parkensine shifted in his seat, brushing Fate off. "Maybe he would do that. Maybe he let her 'get away', if you will."

Fate took a bit of a risk by continuing. "Along with that, sir, I was looking at Bathory's background - what he did as an officer before and on Breach Team 03. And I have to say, from the reports I read, the team was highly revered and regarded as one of the best groups in the city. All of the members, Bathory included, were considered honorable, loyal, and well-liked by the rest of the Siba Captial TSAB."

"Alright. What are you getting at?"

Fate decided to follow through with her question. She had to know the answer. "I even found a report where you complimented their work. Not assuming anything, sir, just saying: It seems like your portrayal of Bathory changed after the hotel incident. I understand that it impacted you personally, but I have to ask: why is it that you only noticed how 'unhinged' and 'threatening' Bathory is after the incident?"

Parkensine quickly stopped her there. "I...I mean, it was probably there the whole time, but he just hid it really well. The hotel event... that's when he finally succumbed to those."

"Are you sure?" asked Fate, putting the pressure on. She loaded up some documents on the screen next to the video feed. "After the incident, there were mentions of him and the other members of his team having shown 'abusive tendencies' and such while the team was active. But again, before the incident, nobody ever saw anything of that sort."

"Maybe I did overlook some things, alright? Maybe I let a little bit slip by when they weren't doing anything wrong. My bad, Enforcer." He again stretched out that last word as he raised his voice and pounded his hand on his desk. "Sure, NOW I wish I had intervened, but no one saw it coming when Shuftan died, okay? Nobody thought than an officer would just...just turn like that."

Fate had pushed her luck as far as she wanted to. "I understand, sir" she said, respectfully. Parkensine rested his head in his hands, elbows on top of the desk.

"Anything else?"

"No. That is all."

Parkensine reached off camera. "Then you are dismissed" he said, before ending the call. Fate sat there on her bed, silently thinking. She didn't even care about relaxing anymore; so many new things regarding her target were on her mind.

* * *

May 28th, 0076  
Victamius  
7:00 PM

Yautja stepped out of an older apartment building, feeling dejected. Walking back to his car, he passed by Bathory, who was 'keeping watch' on the front steps. Yautja kept on walking as Bathory went to catch up with him.

"Well?" Bathory asked. "How'd it go?"

"He wouldn't do it."

"Oh." The conversation dropped like a rock after that. Yautja had spent the day scouring the city for an impersonator to take his place in an upcoming deal, but all of them so far had refused. He was especially mad at losing out on the man he just talked to; he could look exactly like and sound exactly like Yautja, and didn't charge an unreasonable amount, but of course said Yautja's request was far too risky to consider doing.

Bathory at least tried to make small talk. "Why wouldn't he do it? What did you tell him?"

"Oh, it was going well for a while" Yautja remarked. "But as I told him more, he just started assuming things. By the time he was bitching at me for 'setting him up to be attacked' as he put it, it was over. Just over. Anyways, I told him that if he reconsiders at any point, he should call me, but I don't think he will."

Almost as soon as he was done talking, his communications device rang. He checked to see who was calling him, and then answered it.

"Rorcal, man, how's it going? What's up?" Yautja thought about if there were any pickups he was supposed to be getting, but there weren't any at that time.

"Hey, just letting you know in case you haven't seen, the TSAB is stepping up their watch over the whole city."

"I know, man! I know" said Yautja, looking around and throwing his hands up into the air. "Unbelievable, that's what it is."

"Listen to this," said Rorcal, "a guy I know was waiting to meet up with someone - just standing around, minding his own business - when some officers drive up to him, yell at him, start beating him up and just throw him in their car. I swear, they arrest you without a thought and then release you only if you just happen to be innocent. It's getting crazy out here."

Yautja and Bathory reached the car, and they got into it as Yautja responded.

"And that damn Lieutenant's whipping absolutely everyone up in a frenzy."

"Winter, isn't it? Yeah, I'm getting really sick of her."

"Well, she's sticking her neck pretty far out there, if you know what I mean."

"Ohhhh, Yautja, do not tell me you already have a plan for her."

"Well, I don't. But maybe I should - just in case no one else's works." Yautja spun the comms device around, debating whether or not to actually place a hit on the Lieutenant. That would cost him quite a lot to actually do, but he did have Bathory on his side...

Still, he didn't think about it too much, and he continued the conversation. "Why do you think the TSAB's doing this?"

"Well, there have been some highly public...things...going on recently."

Yautja chuckled. "Like our little endeavor," he said.

Rorcal laughed back. "Maybe we need to tone things down a little for now."

"If you're asking if you should cut back on supplying me things, then no, keep going. I'll just make sure our pickups don't take place on the damn highway in the future. Thanks for calling, though."

"You're welcome, man. Bye."

Yautja ended the call and placed the comms device in his pocket. While in there, he pulled out the car keys and started the car. It came to life, and Yautja began driving it to its next destination.

Bathory looked over. "I agree with Rorcal; maybe we should lie low for a while. The TSAB is going to keep this going until they get the results they're after."

Yautja shook his head. "Nah, we've got to keep going. I'm gaining momentum now. I'm getting more and more offers, and they're getting bigger and bigger. Why do you think I'm trying to find a body double?"

"I don't actually know," replied the passenger. "You didn't tell me. What are you doing that has you worried like this?"

Even though no one else could possible hear him, Yautja leaved over towards Bathory and lowered his voice. "Okay, there's an offer I got, bigger than anything I've ever done before. I'm talking huge. I'm talking about something that'll make me a powerhouse here! But I can't reveal anything yet, not even to you."

Bathory laughed at that last part. "You sound just like Murder now. You're not telling me shit."

"Well, just sit tight and wait a little. Unlike him, I will tell you what's going on, just... not yet." As he kept driving, Yautja checked the time. He groaned in disappointment. "Well, it's the end of today's search. I need to get back to Efra." His right hand shot out and tapped Bathory on the arm. "Hey, by the way, do you want to come congratulate her?"

Bathory thought for a bit about what event could be going on. "Is it her birthday or something?"

"No, no, today she did the last few hours of her TSAB training, so now all she needs to do is take the exam. We're having a little celebration tonight - just the two of us, and maybe you if you want to come."

Bathory imagined Efra greeting him at the door. "She'd love to have me over."

"Yeah, but I'm asking you. Do you want to come celebrate with us?"

Thinking of his response, Bathory's stomach growled. "Will there be food?" he asked.

Yautja nodded. "Efra's going all out for this - a nice little three or four dish buffet. I guess she kind of assumed you'd be there anyways, but yes, plenty of everything."

Bathory was elated. It had honestly been a while since he had eaten anything but low-end, cheap food. He could go for some real substance in his stomach. This party seemed perfect, but he started wondering about Efra, and whether he was running out of time.

"Hey Yautja?" he asked. "What's going to happen when Efra asks around, wanting to talk to 'Thanus' at work? What's going to happen when no one has any idea who she's talking about?"

The color ran from Yautja's face and a blank expression appeared across it. "I don't know. I didn't really think about that."

"Should we do something?" continued Bathory. "What should we tell her?"

"I don't know. I don't know at the moment, but I'm not going to sabotage my sister's friendships and relationships. Not unless I have to. Give me some time to think about it."

Both of them started immediately on the drive back. The car pulled in to the garage, they both got out, took the stairs, and found themselves standing in front of the door to the Crawmer apartment. The two of them exchanged glances.

"Well, did you think of anything?" asked Yautja.

Bathory shook his head. "Nope, not a clue."

"Me neither. Whatever, just enjoy yourself." With that, Yautja opened the door, revealing Efra laying the cooked dishes out on the living room table.

"Hey you two" said Efra, cheerfully going back and forth between the dishes, adding all the final touches. When she finished, she walked over to Bathory and hugged him. "Glad you could come, Thanus. I was hoping Yautja would ask you to show up."

"Oh trust me, I wouldn't want to miss this" said Bathory, looking at everything inside, especially the food on the table.

"It took a while to do all that training, but I did it," said Efra, going back to the kitchen. She told the two men to wait, and they both gathered in the open part of the living room. Efra came back with a large, black bottle and three glasses. "I decided that since it's my special party, I'm allowed to have some wine if I want to." She set the three glasses down and poured a dark red liquid from the bottle into the glasses. She offered a glass to her brother, who graciously took it, and then offered one to Bathory. He hesitated a bit, but took it out of kindness. Efra giggled as she handed Bathory the glass.

"I admit, I don't really know what the TSAB's drinking policy is," she said, reaching for the third glass of liquid. "Your captain would probably kill you if he caught you doing this."

Bathory knew that Efra had no way of knowing what that meant to him, but a huge chill still ran up his spine. He shivered, and both Crawmer siblings looked at him.

"Come on, you haven't even taken a sip" said Yautja, joking.

"I'm fine," said Bathory, brushing the memory off. "Sudden cold flash, nothing more."

Efra looked at the two others in the room with her. She held her glass up into the middle of the triangle they had formed. "Well, cheers to me. Since I applied to join the TSAB, I have put hour after hour into training, at all times of the day, coming across everything you could think of. And, of course, along with that, I've done my fair share of operations on my own couch!" The three of them looked towards the brave couch, having already been sprayed and sanitized of everything that Devin had tracked onto it during his stay.

Bathory and Yautja both looked back to see Efra still holding her drink in the air. She was wondering if the two men had ever done this before. They both quickly raised their glasses as well and the three all tapped theirs together. "Cheers" said the chorus in unison, and both Yautja and Efra took a big drink. Bathory politely brought his glass to his lips and took a tiny sip just to go with the rest of the crew.

After that, the three began to eat. Bathory went back and forth between the dishes, trying to eat as quickly but as covertly as possible to not reveal that he was just stuffing his face. He promised his stomach that by the end of the night, it would be fuller than it had been in a long time. After a few minutes of making small talk, turning around, filling his face, turning back around, and repeating the process, Efra asked Bathory for a request.

"Thanus," she said, grabbing Bathory's shoulder, "when I go to take my exams, is there any way you can be there?"

"Whuffuh yoo miii?" Bathory quickly paused and swallowed. "What do you mean?" he asked again.

"Well, for the exams, the TSAB pulls some people out to staff them - to make sure that everything runs well and such. I know you'll probably be out on patrol then, but is there any way you can help out during my exam and be there for me?"

Bathory shrugged. "Like, be one of the fake injured or something? Is that what you're asking?"

"Any position," she said. "It doesn't matter. Could you just try to be there for me? I'm kind of nervous, I have to admit, and if you were there, that would really help me out."

"Uhhhh, I don't know, Efra. Sorry." Bathory looked at Yautja as if he would possibly have an answer. "I don't know if that's even possible."

"Oh, give it a shot anyways," said Yautja, smirking. Suddenly, his comms device began to ring. As two pairs of eyes were on him, he checked the caller and looked back up. "Gotta take this, I'll be right back" he said, disappearing into the back hallway.

Bathory felt Efra's hand on his shoulder, and he looked down into her eyes, which were looking straight up at his. "Please, Thanus? Can you try, for me?"

Bathory placed his hand on her shoulder, mirroring Efra. "I don't know, I really don't know." He steeled himself to begin another round of lies. "Like you said, I'll probably be needed elsewhere. But I'll think of you then."

"That's not enough." Efra slowly drew closer. "That's not enough for me. My heart's pounding now; just imagine what it will be like then."

"Trust me, I'll think of you the whole time. All day. Every single moment leading up to it, and the whole time after until you know the results. I'll keep you in my mind."

"No, no, no. It wouldn't be the same." Efra drew even closer, and it dawned on Bathory just what she was going for. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what to do. How far could he let 'Thanus' go? Where was the line of intimacy that he absolutely could not cross? When would this false persona become too important to Efra to easily erase when the time came? However, looking at Efra, Bathory decided that he, not Thanus, but Bathory, needed this.

Bathory held the back of her head in his other hand. "I'll see what I can do," he said as he leaned forwards and the two embraced in a deep kiss. Though cheesy as it may be, Bathory felt like he melted to the floor. There was so much that he felt in the girl connected to him that he longed for. True safety. True happiness. True trust in another, and true belief that she would be there for him.

"Hey Efra..."

Now he wished to be absolved not just for the freedom to live without fear, but for her. If he was free tomorrow, free to walk the streets without the stigma of his crime, free to willfully exist under the good graces of the law, he'd never leave.

"Efra..."

But deep down, even past the passion of the moment, there was the truth. Nobody is trying to absolve Bathory. The TSAB believes he's a cold killer, and so does the public. Only two people were ever on his side, and one's dead while the other - well, Bathory didn't know what happened to Arin, but going by what Kaisa said the last time they talked, it wasn't anything good. There were no allies for the real him. And all of that meant that even the euphoria of the moment had to eventually fade.

"Eeeeeefraaaaaaa..."

Bathory opened his eyes to see Yautja leaning over his sister's shoulder. At the same time, both people disengaged, and Efra turned around, annoyed.

"What? What is it you want?"

Yautja shrugged. "I just thought you guys would need to breathe."

Efra lightly slapped her brother's cheek and went to pour more wine. She filled the two empty glasses and lightly topped off Bathory's before handing the men their drinks.

"I thought you had a phone call" said Efra, giving Yautja his glass.

"I did. It was short." Yautja looked knowingly back and forth between the two other mages. When they both just glared at him, he began laughing. "It's okay, I knew something would happen... eventually. Congrats on getting to first base, you two."

Efra and Bathory both snickered, and Efra lightly slapped her brother across the face again. After that, she shook her head and raised her glass again. "Alright, let's see...let's see...to the three of us who have gathered here tonight. I am thankful that we are all so fortunate and lucky as to be young and, of course, most important of all, to be in good standing with the law."

This time, a huge chill ran up both men's spines. "Ch...cheers," they both said while shivering.

As the night went on, the three continued their party. After more talking and a movie or two, it came time for everyone to wind down. Yautja had gone back to his room already, and the two other mages were spending more time huddling together, Bathory telling stories of his daily activities 'on the force'. Efra slowly started to drift off, and Bathory got up, letting her lay down on the couch.

"Well, that was fun. I guess I'll see you again." Bathory went for the front door, but Efra reached out her arm and grabbed his.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked.

"Out. The party's over." He tried to pull away, but Efra held on to his arm.

"Thanus, if you want, you can spend the night here."

Shocked by the offer, Bathory's mind went back and forth between his dirty alleyway mattress and a night in the Crawmer apartment. He didn't take long to decide. "Thanks for offering. I'll do that."

With a bit of trouble, Efra picked herself up off the couch. She got very close to Bathory, putting her hand on his shoulder again. "You know, if you wanted to, we could go...sleep together."

Okay, THAT was far, far past the line of familiarity in their relationship. Bathory backed off, putting his hands up. "Uhh, maybe not tonight, okay? I'll just sleep on the couch or something."

Efra kept her hands to herself as she passed Bathory, heading for her own room. "Alright," she said, disappointment breaking through. "You know where the two of us are if you need something. Good night." Efra turned off the lights and disappeared into her room. In the blackness, Bathory sat back on the couch and shifted out onto his side across the whole thing. After a bit more shifting around, he got to thinking again, and reached for his device.

"Aphelion," he asked, "what do you think about her? Or how about this - what do you think about anyone around me now?"

[**THEY ARE ALL TRYING TO FIND HAPPINESS IN THEIR OWN WAYS, MY MASTER**]

Bathory smirked as he rolled onto his back. "Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked the deep green gem. Aphelion continued to pulse softly when it spoke.

[**THEY ARE SIMPLY DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO DO TO FORM A BETTER FUTURE FOR THEMSELVES**]

"Fair enough," muttered Aphelion's owner. He undid the string around his arm and began tossing the gem into the air, catching it, and tossing it back up again.

[**MASTER, I HAVE A QUESTION**] said the device on its own.

Bathory caught it, held it in front of him for a bit, and continued playing catch. "What do you want to know?"

[**WHERE EXACTLY DO YOU WANT TO BE**]

The words came quickly to the mage, almost like he'd spent plenty of time asking this question himself. "Somewhere where I don't have to run. Somewhere where I don't have to break the law and fight every day for survival. Somewhere where I have a permanent home again. That all sounds nice, doesn't it?"

[**AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ACHIEVE THIS**]

Bathory caught Aphelion and sat up, laughing as he did. "I understand now - I know exactly what you're getting at. To you, I've been doing a lot of running, and not a lot a lot of planning. And, well, I admit that I'm not doing any planning. Each city I arrive in, I still try to convince myself that this will be 'the one'. The one where I can stay there for a long time. And each time, I screw up or get found out and then I have to go run again."

[**BUT MASTER, WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE - WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE**]

The mage got up and walked over to the window. Though it wasn't very large, it still provided a nice view of the street outside the complex. Now holding the green gem, he spoke again. "I haven't really imagined the future much. I don't want to think that I'll never be able to escape, but the though is always there, ready to show itself along with all the others. I mean, what would I even do? I'd need to go off-planet to get away, and even then they'd track me down as best they could. But maybe...No, I'd need to go farther that they would expect me to. I'm talking across dimensions, not just planets."

He turned around and began pacing around the living room. "Or maybe - maybe I'll go to a non-administrated world. I'll pick some random number - completely random, and go there. Maybe number 28, or 62, or 97, or 118 - just like that!" Hestopped pacing and settled down in front on the window again. "I'd do it. Even if I had to give magic up, and never use it again. Even if you just became a pendant that I wore around my arm, and nothing more. I'd do it right now, if I could."

[**IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT THIS, MY MASTER**]

Bathory began tossing Aphelion back up into the air. "That was mostly just spur of the moment. I know that would be an absolute last ditch effort, when there's nowhere else for me to run. But it could be an option."

Aphelion was at the top of its arc when Bathory heard a door open behind him. Subconsciously, his nerves took over, preparing to attack the possible intruder. As Aphelion fell back down, Bathory spun around, snatched the device in his right hand and held his arm out, the device aimed right at the target. A confused Yautja just stood there in the doorway. When he was done staring at the other man, he looked around the room.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" he asked.

Bathory lowered his hand, and started wrapping Aphelion back up. "Just my device," he said. Yautja continued to look on, still confused.

"...And why do you talk to your device?"

The other mage shrugged. "Anything wrong with that?"

Yautja didn't respond to that, but the look he gave Bathory contained paragraphs within it. He just turned around and headed back to his room. "If you have to talk to it, please try to be quiet. We're trying to sleep." Yautja closed his door and left Bathory alone. In the empty room, Bathory went back over to the couch and lied down on it again.

"Yeah," he mumbled. On the couch, with a roof over his head, and close to the only person he felt like he could really trust, Bathory fell asleep much faster than he could on any dirty floor, broken mattress or cold bench.

* * *

_i need you to be the strength of widows and soul survivors  
i need you to be as fearless as new mothers and new fathers  
i need you to be the hope of hearts who lost true love  
i need you to be the might of their first kiss  
i need a purpose and i need a reason  
i need to know that there is trophy and meaning  
to all that we lose and all we fight for  
to all our loves and our wars  
keep breathing  
keep living  
keep searching  
keep pushing on  
keep bleeding  
keep healing  
keep fading  
keep shining on  
this is for the hearts still beating  
_

Converge - Last Light

* * *

**A/N:**I had no idea how much of this first part would take place in cars, but I'm pretty sure that's done. Just a little thing I noticed. Anyways, woo! 1/3rd through basically. If you got this far, you're on the right track!


	7. The Long Procession

Word length pre-author's notes: 9,006. Not like I tried to hit that as a goal, It's just neat to me how close it got to a nice round nine thousand.

* * *

May 29th, 0076  
Siba Capital  
10:00 AM

Fate had interviewed several people who'd been witness to Bathory over the last sixteen months, and so far all of the interviews took place in prisons. Every single time Bathory had been reported to the TSAB, it was by some other rat who just hoped he'd get years off his sentence if he did so. Fate didn't like meeting with these people, who were only sorry that they got caught, because none of them even tried to make things easy for her. If they weren't going to be let go for the info they had already given, then why the hell should they entertain one more enforcer for nothing? So in between being cursed at, yelled at, completely ignored, and otherwise being treated like dirt, Fate tried her hardest to get anything out of them. However, she often came up with almost nothing. None of them knew anything about where Bathory was now, since they'd all been sitting in prison since their capture anyways.

So when Fate got approval for an interview in the coastal city of Minerva, she could only hope that she'd have the fortune to be able to stay in her hotel room and do it long-distance. However, that changed when she saw who she'd be speaking to: instead of some pissed-off looking tough guy, a young girl looked out at the viewer from her TSAB Trainee card. Fate's eyes glanced over at the profile, and the first words she read were "Minasa Kimisho, nine years old".

Fate took a very, very deep breath upon reading that. She already began to feel protective of the girl as she looked over the girl's basic report. From what Fate read, Minasa stopped and confronted an escaping criminal, who just so happened to be Bathory. In the ensuing fight, she was devastated and had to spend some time in the hospital. At the end of the report, it was mentioned that the girl had a very hard time speaking of the incident, and it was recommended to just conduct a video interview with her. Due to the high chance of Minasa clamming up, the report said it wasn't worth Fate's time to travel over and try to do it in person; the Minerva TSAB would just send anything they could get the girl to say to the enforcer and save everyone some time. However, the more the report said it wasn't worth it to meet the girl, the more Fate knew she needed to be there.

* * *

"Permission to fly there, sir?" asked the Enforcer. In front of her, General Parkensine sat at his desk, working. He didn't even look up from his work as he responded.

"I don't know. I'd prefer you stay on the ground if you could."

"But sir, travelling by roads, it would be a four to five hour trip just to get there. If I fly, I can be there and back within six."

Parkensine paused his work, thought for a bit, and relented. He got on the computer and began typing. "Very well, I'll grant you clearance to travel by air to Minerva and back. The defense forces should know to let you enter the city by the time you get there."

Fate bowed slightly. "Thank you, General." She travelled up to the roof of the building and waited in front of some officers as her clearance went through. When it did, and she had the go ahead to leave, her feet left the ground and she hovered in the air, checking again which direction she would be heading in. Finalizing her trip, she took off, quickly speeding out of sight into the sky.

* * *

Two hours later

The Minerva skyline appeared over the horizon, and Fate began the last part of the uneventful flight. She reached for Bardiche and held it, waiting to be detected by the Minerva TSAB. It only took a couple more seconds for her to get close enough.

[**INCOMING MESSAGE, SIR**] said her device. Slowing down so the wind wasn't so loud, Fate told Bardiche to accept the contact.

"This is the city of Minerva police department," said a voice on the other end. "You are entering city airspace; please either turn back or land immediately."

"Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown responding. I believe I have clearance to fly within your borders?"

There was a little bit of down time as the caller checked for the authorization. Bardiche transmitted its registration codes, knowing from the multiple missions Fate had been on to just do it now, before they ask. Eventually, the voice returned.

"Very well, Enforcer, you are cleared to use our airspace. All units, please allow the Enforcer to pass by undisturbed."

Nearing her destination, Fate sped up again flew lower to the ground, traveling faster than any of the vehicles below her. At the traffic gates on the edge of the city, heads spun as the workers craned their necks to watch the woman fly past them.

[**DESTINATION REACHED IN FIVE MILES, SIR**]

Fate headed towards the large outpost of the TSAB, and glided down to the ground in front of it, landing gracefully. She started walking as soon as she touched the sidewalk. Standing by the doors was a boy TSAB Private, who began to sweat even before Fate got near. As he held the door open, he fought to keep his hormones in check.

"P...Please follow me, Enforcer!"

Fate entered the government station, which was laid out exactly like every other one she had ever been in. The boy walked off to one of the hallways, and Fate followed him. However, she began to get a little worried when he reached a set of stairs and started going down them rather than up. Normally, the basements in these buildings would be used to contain and detain, as temporary holding points for more...disruptive criminals. 'Why am I interviewing a nine year old girl down here', she asked. 'Why not some place more...well, some place with softer lighting, better aesthetics, more friendly workers, and especially where people aren't screaming in cells further down the halls. Wouldn't that be a better place for this'?

The boy stopped in front of a windowless door and opened it, motioning for Fate to enter. She did, and inside the room was a flimsy table, an extremely bright light, two chairs, and a nine year old girl. The girl was sitting at one side of the table, head down, her hair falling like a veil over her face. As the door slammed shut loudly behind her, Fate slowly sat down opposite of the girl and watched her for a bit. Fate's shoulders relaxed and she tried to look as friendly and as helpful as she could. In a soft voice, she spoke up.

"Minasa, is it?"

The girl slowly nodded her head, but kept her gaze at the floor. Fate rested her arms on the table as she continued.

"My name is Fate T. Harlaown. I am leading the current investigation to find a man named Bathory Kardenis."

Minasa shifted in her seat, turning away from the enforcer. "I know why you're here" she stammered.

Fate closed her eyes. "Well, please understand that I still need to confirm your situation. I know it's tough, but I just need you to tell me if we've got anything wrong." She placed Bardiche on the table, opened the briefing for Minasa's interview, and began summarizing. "About six months ago, you stopped someone who you saw buying illegal goods. He attacked you, and during the fight, you recognized him as Bathory." Looking past the screen, she saw Minasa start to shake, and Fate could only assume tears were about to fall from her eyes. "Minasa," she asked, "is that correct?"

The young girl broke down, sobbing as she turned even further away from Fate. Fate closed her eyes again and leaned back in her chair. Perhaps this was where everyone else had given up, and thought getting anything more out of the girl was impossible. To someone else met with this exact scenario, Minasa locking up as much as she was, she'd be of no use anymore. If she wouldn't cooperate, then why would anyone need to keep wasting their time? The mission would have been aborted then. But Fate knew better than to think that. Though the girl didn't notice, Fate got up out of her chair, walked around the table, knelt down, and silently embraced the girl in a strong, protective hug. As she did so, she whispered to the girl.

"Minasa, it's okay. I know this is all very frightening to you. You probably think I'm mad right now, but I'm not. I understand."

Between heavy gasps for air, Minasa tried to make words. "I'm...I'm trying...I'm trying... but..."

Fate kept her arms firmly around Minasa's body and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I'll make sure of that. I'll stay here as long as I need to."

Minasa began to get herself under control. Fate released the girl and stood up, walking back over to the other side of the table. Minasa's eyes followed the woman as Fate took the other chair and brought it back, setting it down next to hers. Fate sat down and leaned over.

"Do you trust me? Do you trust that I'm not going to be mad at you?"

Minasa kept on hesitating, and Fate knew what the answer she didn't want to say was. It was expected; trust was one of the hardest things to develop, especially when it was out of practice. Fate knew that the girl was so close, though, and knew that behind her exterior, behind her hesitations, Minasa was just searching for what to say.

It was time. To close the gap of apprehension, Fate pulled out a move she often used in times like this. It was one she learned ten years ago, and still regarded as the greatest and cleverest thing ever pulled on her. Fate held one of Minasa's hands firmly in her own.

"Here, Minasa," she said, looking into the girl's deep brown eyes. "Let's try this. Can you say my name?"

The girl looked at the enforcer confused, almost like she was expecting a trick. "Wha...what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing more, really. Just my name, Fate. Can you call me by that?"

The girl's eyes rapidly began to look around the room as she got a bit flustered. "I...I guess I can...if you want me to..."

Fate responded with a smile. Summing up her bravery, Minasa shut her eyes tightly.

"Fate! Your...your name is Fate!"

The enforcer smiled even wider. "Very good, Minasa."

However, to Fate's surprise, the girl kept going. "Fate...Fate Testa...Te-Te-Testarossa Harlaown!"

The enforcer put her left arm around the girl, holding her close again. "Thank you, Minasa Kimisho. Few people do my whole name; you are very brave to have been able to do that." And just like that, Minasa was ready to open up.

People often asked Fate how she was so effective at forming bonds like those. Especially in the years before Riot Force 6, few people outside of her circle saw her as someone with much of a warm side. She would try to resolve any loneliness she saw, but would be met with the same initial reactions from those who were poorly handling the problem. Stand back, get out of the way, we can handle this. You're not the comforting type; what can you do that we can't? Of course, after Fate had finally butted through and swiftly fixed the problem, she'd be asked the same questions, over and over. How? Why did the child listen to you? What did you use to do that? And as Fate walked away, she'd give the same answer to everyone in her head: "Ask Nanoha first. I only know because she taught me."

"Fate?" asked the girl. The blond-haired enforcer looked over at her, paring the messy hair from Minasa's face.

"Yes?"

"What is it like on Midchilda? I really really want to go there."

"Well, it's nice, warm, and sunny most of the time, at least in Cranagan."

"But what about all the people I hear about? What about them?" Minasa quickly leaned in, staring hopeful into the enforcer's eyes. "What about Nanoha?" The girl said the ace's name like she was Nanoha's number one fan.

Fate giggled. "What about her...what about her...oh, what a question. She's doing fine - training the recruits every day, watching them go do their own great things." Fate quickly flashed back to Teana running up to her and almost bowling her over after passing the Enforcer exams. "She's still friendly, she's still hard-working, she loves her daughter and she's still very happy..."

Minasa could tell that Fate got lost in thought at the end of that last sentence. Fate's face changed as she seemed almost sad, or at least preoccupied. In her mind, Fate remembered that a few nights ago, the first one Nanoha had spent alone with Vivio, the brown-haired, blue-eyed woman had called her. Nanoha asked her closest friend about the start of the mission and about the new planet Fate was on. Nanoha was genuinely interested, but all that felt like a conversation placeholder for what she actually wanted to say. The two finished up without reaching that point, but it was obvious to both parties (minus the blond girl by Nanoha's side) that what wanted to be said wasn't said.

The next Midchildan night, Nanoha called again. The two talked about any further developments, both in Fate's case and with any of the other crew, and again, Nanoha put something off for the entire conversation. Her face showed it, though, and Fate remarked that she looked a little sleepless. Nanoha brushed it off, but Vivio, bless her heart, spoke up and told Fate-mama all about how she had woken up in the middle of the night and had gone to get a drink. She saw that the downstairs lights were on, and crept down to see Nanoha-mama sitting on the couch, watching the clock go by. As Fate nervously laughed, Nanoha tried to brush it off, saying that didn't mean anything. She patted her daughter's head as she did so, though maybe a little too hard. They all exchanged goodbyes once again.

Of course, the third night, Nanoha called once again. Looking even more haggard, she finally admitted that she missed Fate and wished she'd come back home. Fate didn't want to mention that she'd started thinking the same thing, and instead just told Nanoha that eventually it would get easier. Nanoha seemed to finally agree, though maybe that was her mind begging her to get a good night's sleep. The call ended, and Fate hadn't heard back since then.

"Yeah, she's still very happy," Fate finished, "and everything's fine..."

Minasa, perked up again, continuing her own interview. "Does she have any new moves? Any new awesome attacks? Something even BIGGER and BETTER that you can tell me?"

Fate was about to answer, but remembered that she also had an interview to do. To make Minasa think about all that again might destroy her spirits. However, if Minasa was this big a fan of Nanoha...

Fate had a great idea as she looked at the young girl. "Minasa, sorry, but we need to get back to the matter at hand." As expected, Minasa slowly began to pull away from Fate. "But," the enforcer continued, "if you be a big girl, and tell me what happened, I'll see if maybe I could do something for you."

"For me?" asked the girl. "Like what?"

Fate put her arm back around the girl's shoulders. "It's a bit of a surprise, but it's something I know you'll love."

"Okay," said Minasa, focusing on beginning her story. Of course, that night was still hard for her to think about, but she didn't want to let enforcer Fate T. Harlaown down.

Though she stuttered a bit at the start, she began. "I...I was out...patrolling the city, keeping it safe, when I...I saw these two men standing on the sidewalk..."

* * *

.

* * *

December 4th, 0075  
Minerva  
10:30 PM

Bathory Kardenis had it all figured out. Over the course of the last week, he had arrived in Minerva, found someone who needed his services, and proved himself a couple times. That all happened much quicker and much easier than in all the previous cities he had visited. It was a new record, but he didn't really know what to think about that as he looked out at the coastline. In front of him, a wide, short beach bridged the water and the edge of the wall. It wasn't a steep drop off, but it was one blocked by a railing running the length of the wall.

With the sun having gone down a while ago, and the foot traffic having all but cleared, Bathory could assume that the footsteps behind him were from the man he would be trading with. He turned around, holding his end of the deal in his hand.

"Blacktongue?" the other man asked, holding up a bag with several bricks of a powdery substance in it. Bathory just nodded, handing him the payment. However, the other man brought his hand up and paused the transaction. Reaching in the sack, the man opened one of the bricks and scooped some up in his fingers. He opened his mouth and pressed his fingers to his tongue, digging the powder in nicely. It was obvious why the drug was called blacktongue; instead of being a healthy pink, the other man's tongue looked ashen and charred to a deep, dead black.

"Here, I won't tell if you don't. Want some?" asked the man, holding the open brick out. Bathory politely declined, and the man wrapped the block back up. Bathory handed him the payment again, and both it and the sack of blacktongue exchanged hands. As quietly as they had begun, the two nodded and went their separate ways.

Bathory headed towards the beach and hopped the railing, dropping down on the sand below. He hadn't been to the ocean in a long time. The still night and the waves lulled him a little and he sat down, watching the water creep up to his feet and then rush back. Minerva wasn't exactly an oceanfront 'tourist-y' type of place, and the small row of sand under him wouldn't be able to support much activity, but Bathory liked it here. Looking out at the vast water, Bathory closed his eyes and thought that a little short break wouldn't hurt.

Of course, when he heard the soft thud of feet touching the sand, as well as a quiet gasp to his right, Bathory opened his eyes again. Looking over at the sounds, he saw a young girl in a mostly-white barrier jacket getting back to her feet. In her hands was a staff with a large blue gem at the top of the firing head. Around the gem were golden parts that stretched out past the gem to concentrate any attacks. The girl sprung up like she'd never crashed in the first place, and aimed her device at the sitting man with vigor.

"Caught you red-handed, criminal! Put your hands in the air and come quietly."

Bathory looked over at her, confused. He felt like he had met her before, but then again, he felt like he had met hundreds of others who looked like her before. Either way, he looked around, trying to find the rest of the ambush, but couldn't. Was she acting alone? And if so, why? Maybe if he acted innocent, he could simply defuse the situation.

"Hey there, what are you out doing this late at night?" he asked.

The girl held her ground and kept her device aimed at the man. "D...don't act dumb with me. My name is Minasa Kimisho, and I'm here to stop you!"

Bathory stood up and got to his feet. As he did so, he got a look at her fully and remembered who she reminded him of: Nanoha Takamachi, the so-called Ace of Aces. Wildly popular for the last ten years, and one of the most famous mages alive today. Bathory was there around her age when news of the amazingly powerful girl began to spread. In those tentative years of early childhood, when a mage began to form an identity for him or herself, the barrier jackets, weapons, and attitudes of the girls around him were dominated by wanting to be just like Nanoha. A huge influx of star-struck fans with merely-slightly-original designs appeared and believed that they themselves were destined to be as good as their hero. Call him an asshole, but Bathory hated them. They put a strain on the then-very-sort-of-almost-nonexistent Siban Air Forces branch for a few years before mostly failing to pass their C-rank tests with their special blends of delusion.

That's why he liked Kaisa Ellen so much, actually. She rolled her eyes at the other girls along with Bathory, and put just as much determination and focus as Bathory did on expanding her abilities as an actual TSAB officer. Both of them saw themselves in each other. The two of them trained every day to focus their attacks and become even more effective, not just to make sure that the finish of their devices exactly matched that of someone else's. Besides, along with all that, if Bathory had to pick an ace, he'd go with Fate T. Harlaown himself.

After the initial burst of followers, things died out some, but there were still young girls out there who were heavily inspired by the Ace of Aces. The girl currently in front of him was proof of that. But Bathory didn't really feel like getting annoyed at all as he approached her. In fact, he worried for her a bit, running off to confront someone alone like she did.

"Listen, Minasa, are you lost? Confused? Do you want me to help you out?"

The girl sputtered, stomping her feet further into the sand. "No! No no no! You're under arrest. The TSAB orders you to hand over your illegal purchases and turn yourself in."

"Really, I think you're confused. I don't have anything bad on me."

"Th...then what about that bag, in your hand? I saw you - you were waiting over there, and someone else walked up to you, and you took that bag."

As Bathory kept approaching her, Minasa became a bit more panicked. Again, Bathory had the feeling that she was going far out of her comfort zone to do this.

"I don't remember that at all," he said. "And this?" he asked, holding up the bag. "It's takeout."

"You're lying! I...I saw you...you were right over there..." Bathory walked right up and kneeled down in front of the girl. She flinched as he reached out and patted her head.

"I really don't think you have the right guy. I'm just out minding my own business." He looked down at her eyes, and she stared up into his. "Here," he continued, "why don't I take you back to your parents? I don't think you should be out this late."

Minasa shut her eyes and clenched her hands around the staff. "No, I'm...fine...I'm ok."

"Alright then." Bathory rubbed her head and stood up. "It was nice meeting you, but I need to get going." With that, he walked past her along the beach. As he did so, he rolled his eyes at the girl. First, he thought, to be like an Ace, you have to have the willpower and confidence of one. And from what he saw, Minasa didn't have much of either.

Meanwhile, the girl took a few seconds to recover. She shook her head, realizing that she was letting a criminal get away. Determined again, she raised her device up into the air as high as her arm would go. "Radiant Heart," she shouted, "stop that man."

[**LIGHT BIND**] said her device. Walking along, Bathory felt his arms get pushed against his body as his legs were pushed together mid-step. There wasn't much he could do as he fell forward, face-planting into the soft sand. Without moving, he just mumbled to himself a little.

"Are you shitting me?" he asked the ground under him. Rolling over and sitting up, he watched Minasa jump into the air, trying to fly over to him. However, she wobbled violently back and forth the whole way over, as if she could barely hold on to the spell. Floating in front of him, she aimed the staff at him again.

"I give you one last chance. One last chance to turn yourself in withou- wi- witho- WHAHH!" Minasa lost her flight balance and toppled over, falling to the ground. She hadn't been floating very high up though, and the sand cushioned her completely. Getting up and brushing off her barrier jacket, she re-aimed at the bound mage and finished her sentence. "One last chance to turn yourself in without injury."

"Injury, really?" asked Bathory, rolling his eyes again. "Listen, this has been cute and all, but I do need to get going." He tested the binds quickly and figured he could break them just by yawning. If he actually fought Minasa she wouldn't stand a chance, and so for both of their sakes, he still hoped she'd give up. Still, he should have expected that she wouldn't.

A white magic circle appeared below Minasa. "Watch out, I'm not holding back!" she said, before beginning to recite an aria, with some difficulty. "This powerful blast of love will make you listen to me! Because I think you need to...uhh...to...to cool your, uh, cool your mi- no...uhh... oh! I think you need to cool your head a little!"

The bound mage's head was spinning, but not with any fear or regret. He was mostly feeling confusion and annoyance. 'Cool your head'? What the hell does that have to do with anything? And is she really, REALLY going to do this?

Minasa continued as the magic circle of the Midchildan style appeared several times around her device. "This is my full power attack!" she cried, a charge of energy appearing at the tip of her device. "Feel the power of my Radiant! Starlight! BREEEEEEEAAAAAAA-"

'Alright, that's enough,' thought Bathory. In one quick motion, he thrust his arms out to the side, breaking the weak bindings around him. He gripped Aphelion in his hand as it transformed around his arm, aiming it at Minasa. He fired a basic shot which hit the girl before she could attack, tossing her backwards violently. She screamed the entire time she flew back, only stopping when she crashed into the sand and skidded through it for a couple feet. Bathory stood up and walked over to her as Minasa slowly struggled to get back up.

"What are you doing?" he asked her. "You can't go around 'defending the peace' like that. What rank are you - an E, maybe a D?"

Minasa finally got back up and aimed her device again. She winced as she did so and struggled to keep looking tough. "I'm tougher than that! I'm a strong defender of the law, watch me."

The AA-rank mage stopped walking and sighed. He raised Aphelion but didn't fire yet. "Then prove it," he said. "Put up a shield this time and let's see how much you can take. Aphelion, basic shot, fire."

The girl did as Bathory told her to and held her device out sideways in front of her, putting up a round shield. The green blast crashed against her shield, tearing straight through it. While some was absorbed, Minasa was still hit by a good amount of magic and was tossed back again. Bathory started walking over to her again, but she hadn't been able to stand up by the time he got to her. He grabbed her by the arm and lifted her to her feet.

"Hey, you can't go taking matters into your own hands like that. You have a lot of work to do to get to that point." He rubbed her head again as she cringed under him. Then, he turned around. "So I'm going to leave now, and you're going to fly home, and that will be the end of this, okay?"

He didn't wait for a response as he started walking away. He assumed the girl would stop trying to arrest him after that, and indeed there were a few seconds of relative peace. He had almost begun to deactivate his device when Minasa shouted after him.

"Wait! Wait a second!"

Bathory rolled his eyes for a third time and turned around. "What? What do you want now?"

She looked at him in detail, spending a while just staring him down, then made another fighting stance. Again, all of her determination had flowed back into her. "I've seen you before. You're a wanted felon, Bathory Kardenis, and I'm NOT letting you escape!"

A pin could drop on the sand and you could still hear it. Both mages were dead quiet - Minasa silently waiting for a response, and Bathory feeling an absolute rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions. Ohhhh no, he thought. No no no no no damn it no no no NO! And with that, Bathory now began to tremble. He had gotten into this city not even a week ago, and couldn't believe his cover was blown just like that. He didn't care that Minasa was young, naïve, and simply inexperienced. He wanted to hurt her.

"You shouldn't have talked...you shouldn't have said a damn thing" he said to her.

"No escaping now," replied Minasa. "I've seen your picture on the news; I know it's you. I can't let you roam free anymore." The girl surged again with the inspiration from an Ace, practically holding her hand to her heart and pledging to Nanoha that she'd bring this criminal down. If she could do that, she would be well on her way to becoming an Ace herself. However, reality would not be so kind.

"Aphelion, full auto mode" shouted Bathory.

[**FULL AUTO MODE ACTIVATED**], it replied. Bathory held Aphelion out at the girl and fired once, causing a continued stream of shots to soar from the device's firing ports. Minasa again held her staff out in front of her, putting up a circular shield. With the full-auto shots' weakened effects, she was able to block them at the start, but her shield began to crack more and more as the barrage continued. Finally, it could hold no more, and tore open violently. In desperation, Minasa held her staff so the head of it was blocking the continued attacks. Radiant Heart protected her body, but it began to crack itself.

Bathory quit the attack and both parties stood there on the beach. Minasa held her device tightly in her arms, wondering what Bathory would do. The man shook his head, held his weapon down at his side, and spoke.

"Aphelion, charged multi-shot. Just tell me when."

[**UNDERSTOOD, MASTER**]

Bathory slowly started walking over to Minasa, who found herself backing away from him as he approached. She told herself that she needed to stay strong, and she readied her own attack as Bathory kept walking.

"B...Beam Shooter, fire!" A standard beam attack shot out of Radiant Heart, and Bathory just nonchalantly brought his shield up. The green triangle absorbed it without a problem, and the man kept walking over to her.

"F...fire again!" shouted Minasa, and another beam of energy was shot from her device. The green shield again took it, no problem. As he got close to Minasa, she realized she definitely wouldn't win this. With her device cracked and injured, she wished she'd followed the man's advice and let him just leave before. "Please," she cried, "I won't tell anyone, I promise! Just let me go, alright, and I'll be quiet, I promise!" However, instead of hearing her pleas, Bathory was focused on the voice of Aphelion.

[**CHARGED SHOT READY ON COMMAND**]

Coldly, Bathory aimed the device down at Minasa. The firing ports all glowing with energy was a sight that Minasa never thought she'd forget. She held Radiant Heart tightly in front of her as he closed her eyes and waited for the impact.

"Fire."

The shots rushed out of the device, slamming into the girl with the full strength of the attack. Radiant Heart took the front of the attack and the staff shattered apart. The rest of the blast all went into Minasa, who felt unimaginable pain as she again flew back and hit the ground. It was too painful to scream, and she instead lay there, mouth open, trying to make something come out. She had never felt anything worse in her life.

If Bathory had ended there, it would still have been a traumatizing situation. However, he was still brimming with violent intent, still hating the girl. The girl felt her limbs get pinned together under a suffocating clamp bind, and she could do absolutely nothing to stop Bathory grabbing her by the neck, picking her up, and throwing her over by the ocean. She landed on her stomach, with her head splashing into the very edge of the water. Before she could even turn to spit the sand out of her mouth, Bathory reached her and pressed her head down with his foot. He pushed down hard, not allowing her to escape the water and wet sand and not allowing her to breathe.

She fought back, of course. She fought as much as she could. Her neck tried as best it could to lift her head up and overpower Bathory's foot, but she was losing. Her arms pushed at the bonds and her legs tried to kick wildly, though once again, she couldn't escape. Her knees bent, and her feet flexed back and forth, but aside from that, her body could do nothing. Her mind, however, could race with panic. To her, it seemed like she'd gone minutes without air, though it had really only been ten seconds or so as Bathory decided what to do with her. He figured something out and took his foot off of Minasa's head. Her head arced back to breathe, and Bathory used this as he grabbed her hair and pulled her up to her knees. She knelt down, facing the ocean, gasping as Bathory walked in front of her and held Aphelion to her head. She looked up from her open green eyes into her attacker's narrowed ones, and pleaded with them. Her face was covered in water, though Bathory knew that some of that was probably from tears as well. She thought she was about to die and Bathory thought the exact same thing.

Seconds went by in this one-sided standoff. Minasa kept looking up with her scared face, tears now definitely running from her eyes. Bathory kept Aphelion held to her head and kept his eyes in a narrow glare for a while, but slowly, his eyelids began to open. The anger rushed from his face and he lowered Aphelion. "The hell am I doing?" he mumbled. "Seriously, why am I..." Aphelion changed back into its standby form and Bathory lowered the bindings on Minasa as he let out an extremely disappointed sigh. He looked to the right, unable to face the girl. "I can't believe I even thought that..." He sighed again and looked back at her. Kneeling down, he hunched over to face to face with Minasa. Still scared out of her mind, her wide open eyes met his again.

"Listen," said the man who had finished his rampage, "I'm sorry. I went way too far. I just...I just panicked when you said my name. I lost control, and I know none of those mean anything to you, but I'm sorry, okay? I really am. I shouldn't have done that." The girl continued to stare at him silently. He put his arms on her shoulders, and she didn't even finch or try to break away.

"Now, you know that I'm Bathory Kardenis. I've had a lot of experience dealing with pretty much everything. I'm sure you just figured this out, but I'll say it again, and I hope you listen; you can't run off on your own trying to be a hero. You need your partners in case anything, anything at all goes wrong. I mean, tonight, if I were anyone else - if I was any other criminal in this city, who didn't care at all about what he'd have to do to get away, you would be dead right now. I didn't kill you because...well...I don't...don't want to..." Bathory had a very hard time trying to explain, and finally just gave up. "Anyways," he asked, "do you have any friends? Any people your age you probably called out to as you fought for your life?"

Minasa just nodded slowly up and down. Would Bathory hurt her again if she told the truth? Would he hurt her again if she lied? Instead, he just took a breath, and looked back at her. "Good. They're on their way right now because they care for you. They'll all wish that they could have been here to protect you. They are your team, and you need to stick together, alright?" Minasa nodded again, but her mind was starting to come back. She shook in fear as Bathory stood up and walked over to the broken device lying on the ground. It had been broken in multiple places along it handle. He gathered up the parts and brought them back to Minasa. He set them down in front of her.

"Again, sorry for that. I should have stopped long before." He looked at the broken pieces as Minasa reached out and cradled them all in her arms.

Taking another look at the ocean, he patted Minasa's shoulder one more time and started walking off. "Everything will be okay - say that you faced down 'the legendary Bathory Kardenis' and I'm sure they'll repair your device immediately." He rushed off, not waiting for an answer as he heard two other voices shouting in the streets. He got far enough away that it was too dark to clearly see him, and looked back as two children around Minasa's age flew down to her aide. They both hugged her tightly. She slowly stood up, and her friends grabbed her, saying they were going straight for the hospital. As the three kids headed off along the beach one way, Bathory turned and went the other way. He knew Minasa would reveal who she really fought, and knew that he had to get out immediately. However, his actions that night tarnished all the good parts of the coastal city, and he didn't look back as he dropped off the sack he'd been carrying the whole time and then headed straight for the edge of the city.

* * *

.

* * *

May 29th, 0076  
Minerva  
12:15 PM

Minasa finished, and both she and Fate sat there, silent. The nineteen year old was still trying to process everything about the terrible situation, while the nine year old quietly cried. She had started tearing up again during the story, and it had gotten worse as it went on. By the end, her words were almost illegible, but Fate never stopped her. Every time Minasa paused a bit too long, as if she was doubting her ability to keep going, Fate would ask her "and then what happened?" But now, she didn't know what Fate would say next. And so she waited as the enforcer finished thinking.

"Minasa, have you ever told anyone else that much?"

The girl was caught a bit off guard, but quickly answered. "No, never that much. I did say that I caught him, and he attacked me, but that's really all. They asked me for details several times, but I...I...I couldn't..."

"You weren't ready to reveal them. I understand. It takes some time to be able to understand an event enough to speak about it. And, of course," said Fate, stroking the girl's head again, "it depends on who's asking you. I bet there were some pretty big, pretty mean looking people who sat you down before."

"Yeah," muttered Minasa, "they were scary...really scary...un- unlike you." She looked up at the Enforcer and gave a light smile. Fate responded with her own large grin.

"You did an amazing job, Minasa, telling me what happened. Few people could be as brave as you were. I think you deserve your reward."

Minasa's mouth opened in surprise. She had completely forgotten about that. "What is it?" she asked. "What is it?"

Fate chuckled, bringing Bardiche up and setting him on the table. She looked over at the girl. "So, Minasa, you look up to Nanoha, right?"

"Yeah" said the girl energetically.

"And you wish you could go to Midchilda and meet her?"

Minasa almost stood up on her chair. "YEAH! I DO!"

"Well, I can't do that right now, but I can do the next best thing." Fate looked down at her device, making sure Minasa was watching her. "Bardiche, contact Raising Heart."

[**UNDERSTOOD, SIR - CONTACTING NANOHA NOW**]

Minasa brought her hands up to her head, looking wildly back and forth from Fate to the device. A screen popped out of it and the TSAB emblem floated around in the background as the call went through. Minasa was unable to speak, though now it was out of overwhelming anticipation. "I don't...what...what do I even say? I never...I never thought this...this would actually..." She practically fell off her seat when Nanoha's image appeared on the screen.

"Fate? How's it going?" she asked. The brunette stood somewhere in the halls of the TSAB office, wearing her Instructor Corps uniform.

"Oh, nothing much," said Fate, acting normally. Next to her, the girl with the voice caught in her throat still couldn't believe that Nanoha was right there on the screen in front of her. And Fate was just treating this as an everyday occurrence because to her, it was.

"So, it's been a few days. Everything still holding up over there?"

"Yup, so far so good" said the enforcer. She leaned in towards the screen a bit. "Hey, Nanoha, are you free right now? Just for a little bit?"

"I am for a bit. The next group arrives for lessons in - oh - ten minutes. What's going on?"

Fate wrapped her left arm around Minasa's shoulders. "Well, there's someone sitting next to me who'd like to talk to you - someone who's been a big help today." With that, she looked at Minasa and nodded as she turned the video screen so it was facing straight at the girl. Her eyes and Nanoha's eyes locked, and her gaze was so powerful that nothing could break it. As she stared on, the Ace of Aces looked back at her.

"Um, hi there. I'm Nanoha Takamachi. What's your name?"

The girl answered back by reaching out, grabbing the screen, bringing it back in and hugging it. "NANOHAAAAA!" she shouted, swaying back and forth as the screen did its best to stay intact. When the girl did speak, she poured out torrents of words.

"MynameisMinasaandIcan'tbelievethatIgettotalktoyou I'myournumberonefanandIcan'tbelieveitandIalwayswan tedtobeJUSTLIKEYOU!"

Nanoha got the gist of that. "Ha, well, it's very nice to meet you, Minasa. Are you going into the air force?"

Minasa released the screen, much to the thankfulness of Bardiche, and sat back down in her seat. "Yup! I'm a trainee!" She reached in her pocket and pulled out a blue sphere. "And this is my device, I call it Radiant Heart after yours, and, oh, and this is my barrier jacket." She started to stand up and push the chair out of the way, but Fate intervened. She reached over and held the energetic girl back.

"Alright, Minasa, I'm sure you don't need to do that."

"Okay," replied the girl, sitting back down. As soon as she did so, she launched immediately back into the conversation. "I'm a trainee, and one day, I'm going to be just as powerful and loved as you! One day...I...definitely..." she started to falter, remembering her fight with Bathory, and how easily he defeated her. "I...I..." she started to slump badly, and Fate looked at Nanoha nervously. However, Nanoha was no stranger to helping out with these.

"Minasa," said the instructor smoothly, "what's wrong?"

The girl answered her. "I'm only...only a D...I didn't pass my C rank test..."

"Well, that's okay, you can always give it another go."

"But...when you were nine, you were...you were doing amazing things! And I'm not...not doing anything at all..."

Nanoha did the best she could do over a planetary call. "Minasa, you are doing amazing things. I'm talking to you right now because you helped Enforcer Fate out so much."

"But...but...when I battle, I just..."

"Trust me Minasa, you have a lot, I repeat, a lot of time to become better. Take me, for example. I know so much more now than I did when I was your age." Nanoha chuckled. Give it some more time, and of course, train every day, and you will surprise yourself how far you go."

Minasa looked back up from her slump. "R...really? Do you mean it?"

"I mean it. You are stronger than you think you are, Mi-"

A voice screamed Nanoha's name from off camera, and the two mages on Siba watched as an energetic teen with blue hair dove onto the screen, hugging Nanoha tightly.

"Subaru," said Nanoha through her slightly-crushed windpipe, "I see you're in a good mood."

"Cinque called us, and she's getting out in two weeks! From today! We'll throw a biiiiiiiiiiig party then 'cuz now the whole family will be together." She started swinging Nanoha back and forth in her gripping hug. "I'm excited, Gin-nee's excited, Nove, Wendi, and Dieci are excited..."

"The Nakajima family is very excited, I see that. Hey Subaru, I'm talking to Fate right now. Do you want to say hi to her?"

Subaru released Nanoha from the hug and looked at the screen. "HIIIIIIII FATE!" she said, waving. She looked at the other girl next to the enforcer. "Hiiiiii, uhhhhhh...other person."

Minasa waved back, fairly confused. "Hello, uh, my name is Minasa Kimisho, it's nice to meet you as-"

"FATE? WHO'S TALKING TO FATE?" yelled another voice from off-camera on Midchilda. Another teenaged girl slid in front of the camera, butting in front of the instructor and the blue-haired girl. Teana gripped the sides of the screen and put her face up close to it. "Fate? Where did you go? What are you doing?"

Fate looked at the giant face of Teana and shrugged. "On a mission" was all she said.

"I know that, but tell me details. Where did you go? Who are you fighting? How has it been?" Teana backed up, standing next to her partner and their former instructor. "Ohhh, you know I want to hear that kind of stuff."

"Well, maybe when I get back, I'll tell you all about it."

This time, two brunettes said the exact same thing at the exact same time. "And when is that?"

In response, Fate just shrugged. "I don't know. If I can find the guy, maybe a day or two, if not, a week or more. That's what I'd say."

"Fine," said Teana, "but you better tell me all the exciting parts."

"Well, if you're going to be an enforcer, I'll have to tell you all the boring parts as well. No sense holding anything back."

Teana crossed her arms. "Well, okay."

Subaru leaned over to her friend. "Hey, Teana, are you coming to the party?"

The shorter brunette stomped one of her feet on the ground and replied boldly. "Yes you idiot, you have asked me FIVE TIMES NOW and I said yes THE FIRST TIME YOU ASKED."

"Okay you two, break it up" said the instructor caught in the middle. She reached an arm around both of them and pulled them in. Subaru smiled as she gave Nanoha another hug in response, while Teana kept her arms crossed and looked away grumpily from her dolt best friend. "Now, I need to keep talking to Fate, so I'll stay here" remarked Nanoha as she ended the group hug. "You two...go off and do whatever you need to do."

"Alrighty then. Bye Nanoha!" said Subaru as she rocketed off somewhere. After she did that, Teana looked back at the screen.

"B...bye Fate...have fun." When she was done, Teana also walked off, leaving Nanoha alone again. She laughed as she looked back at the caller.

"Well," she said, addressing both Fate and Minasa, "things are very...interesting here." Nanoha focused back on the trainee again. "Anyways, back to you. Is there anything else you would like to ask me?"

"Yeah," answered Minasa. "I've...I've never actually been to Midchilda. My family can't just go, and I've applied for transfer programs, but they didn't accept me...Is there anything you can do, Nanoha?"

"Well, let's see. I could put in a good word for you, if you ever were to apply again." Nanoha winked at the girl. "And I'm sure Fate would do the same thing."

"Of course" said Fate. "I'd love to help out."

Once again, the girl was star-struck by the power of the Aces. "Really?" she asked, her eyes even wider than when Nanoha first talked to her. "Can you really do that for me?"

Nanoha looked off-camera, and then back at Minasa. "Well, you have to find a program to apply to; I can't just get your class to take a field trip or anything, but I'll make sure that you're a prime candidate for the picking."

"Oh thank you Nanoha, thank you so much!"

Nanoha looked off-camera again. "Alright, I have to get going. It's been fun talking to you though. And Fate," she said, turning back to the enforcer, "don't take too long, alright?"

"Alright," Fate answered. Nanoha quickly waved goodbye and ended the call. Turning to look at Minasa, Fate smiled when she saw the face of someone whose wishes had been fulfilled.

"Well, Minasa, I'm glad that we did this. It's time for me to leave, though - I need to get back and process everything." Fate stood up, pushed her chair in, and headed for the door. Minasa followed her.

"Are you sure? Are you sure you have to go?"

Fate opened the door and the two of them stepped out into the hallway. "Yes, I'm sure. I really enjoyed our time together though, and I hope you start to feel better." Both of them climbed out of the basement and walked to the front doors of the building together. Minasa stood in the foyer as Fate went to open the doors and head back out of the city.

"Fate! One more thing" shouted the girl. Fate stopped opening the door and turned around.

"Yes? What is it?"

Minasa bowed her head. "Th...thank you for listening to me."

Fate bowed her head back. "You're a brave girl. Remember that." And with that, she headed out onto the streets of Minerva. Looking in the direction of Siba Capital, she hovered up into the air and took off for her return trip. After she had passed by the edge of the city, and as the Minerva skyline was far behind her, Fate closed her eyes and soared. She let her mind wander as she cut through the air, slowly rolling over until she was on her back and the sun was on her face.

"Bathory...what am I even supposed to think?" she muttered to herself. Fate remembered the reports that surfaced after the hotel incident, saying the mage had been violent and unstable even before the crime happened. A decent, respectful person definitely wouldn't attack and injure a defenseless girl, but Fate always made sure to examine things from both sides. What other explanations were there? 'If I were in Bathory's place', she thought, 'could some set of circumstances cause me to act like that? Would I have done something I normally wouldn't do if I felt like I had to do it'? And then Fate rolled back over and opened her eyes.

'Of course - I already have. I brought those Jewel Seeds to Mother so that she would be proud of me - I did that because I felt like I had no other choice. I was put on trial by those who just looked at what I had done, and was defended by those who knew why I had done it.'

Fate still found it horrible that a nine year old girl was traumatized, and the image of Minasa staring up at a weapon pressed to her head still made Fate shudder, but Bathory had held back. He held back and would have only taught her a light lesson had she not known who he was. Minasa's story, as well as Ia Zver's story - provided that the man who assisted her was actually Bathory - started to paint a different picture of the man than what Parkensine portrayed him as.

"Bathory," whispered Fate, "I hope I can see what you're really like. I have a feeling that only you can truly explain yourself."

* * *

**A/N:** Yup. As I've mentioned, when I write dark stuff, my fingers just fly across the keyboard compared to when I do lighter things. Also, I said this back in chapter 4, but this story is also a way for me to do little one-off 'expansions' on things (like writing a unison accident) and I had wanted to do a complete "Original Character Do Not Steal"-type Nanoha ripoff getting...uhh...doled on I guess? But don't worry, everything turning out alright was also part of the plan. And by 'one-off', I mean situations, not characters with that. I try to have some characters come back, even if they only show back up much later...


	8. Pariah And Protector Part 1

**A/N**: So I'm going to do something that might seem a bit weird, and you can do it if you want: There are some songs I hear where it or parts of it just make me think "something action-packed and awesome would take place with this as the music". I'm sure many people do that, and I'm sure you think I'm about to recommend a Linkin Park song or something. I'm not, thankfully, but still, everyone has different tastes. If it's not working, feel free to not do it. Still, for these chapters, I'm recommending a band called The March that you can find at themarch dot bandcamp dot com. For this chapter, play song 2 "Nate Williams", for Ch 9 do song 3, and for Ch 10 do song 4. Their two albums are free to download if you like them.

* * *

May 30th, 0076  
Victamius  
2:30 PM

Bathory entered a busy café, found Yautja sitting at one of the booths, and sat down across from him. When the waitress came over, he politely declined ordering.

"No really, I'm not staying around" he said, waving his hands back and forth.

"You sure?" asked the waitress, still ready to write down an order.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Thanks though."

The waitress walked off as Yautja raised a large glass full of something to his lips. He set it back down as Bathory looked at him.

"Alright, so what do you want me to do?"

Yautja set his comms device on the table. "Anytime now."

"Anytime now what?"

"Anytime now, Rorcal's gonna tell me where another pickup will be. Can you go get it? I'm a little busy." Yautja took another sip of his drink after making the request, and after that was done, he relaxed in his seat.

Bathory could help but wonder. "A little busy doing what, exactly?"

"Oh, you know, preparing for other things. Bigger things."

"Like that one thing you're doing? The one you won't tell me about?"

"I'll tell you when it's all and ready, okay? There's still a few unknowns involved."

After that, the comms device began to ring. Yautja reached over to press it with one finger, then relaxed again.

"Rorky, how's it going?" With the way Yautja said that, he almost seemed jolly.

"Rorky? Really man?" asked the voice on the other end. "Well, you must be in a good mood."

"For the moment, yes. Do you have everything now?"

"Yup, it's all packed up and I'm ready to set a destination. I'm guessing this will be pretty easy. It will be a smooth, clean, drive-and-drop operation."

Doing a complete 180, Yautja leaned forward. His face darkened as any emotion left it and he assumed a very serious tone. "Actually, Rorcal, I don't think I'm going to accept your offer."

Bathory probably made the same shocked face that Rorcal did. "What are you doing?" he mouthed across the table, not actually saying it. Yautja held his hand up and mouthed "hold on" in response.

"What?" asked the now-angry voice coming from the device. "I have it all right here. It's right here, in my car right now. Just take it!"

"Well, you see," said Yautja, "I've been talking to a couple people who can get me more than you ever could at a lower price than you will ever ask for. Do you understand? I'm dropping our deal." As he said that, Bathory began to wildly gesture across the table. He was trying his best to stay silent as he accosted Yautja with his hands.

"No no no, this is NOT HAPPENING, you are going to at least pick this shit up!" screamed Rorcal. The two mages in the café noticed that they were drawing some attention, so when Yautja looked again at the device, he wrapped things up.

"Nope, you're keeping it. Find someone else - I'm through with you." Yautja pushed down on the device again to hang up on Rorcal, and went to put it back in his pocket. When he looked back up, Bathory was holding his head in shock. He leaned across the table, wanting to strangle Yautja. Still, he kept everything to a whisper.

"What was that? The hell was that?" He grabbed Yautja by the shoulders and started shaking him. "You two were working just fine until thirty seconds ago! What do you think you're doing?"

"Calm down already. I'll explain" said Yautja, trying to pull Bathory off of him. When his partner's arms were finally back on his side of the table, Yautja revealed what the call had told him. "Rorcal was caught by the TSAB."

"How? How can you possible know that?" Though Bathory kept to himself, he would still have been screaming at Yautja were they not in public.

"The two of us - we had some code words, alright" said Yautja, making sure Bathory followed along. "One of them was 'a smooth, clean, drive-and-drop operation', which really means 'there are officers crowding all around me making sure I don't tell you that officers are crowding all around me'. Rorcal was caught. I don't know how, but if we set up a deal, the two of us - you and I - would just be walking straight into our arrests. Do you understand now?"

If that was the truth, then everything now made sense. Bathory nodded.

Yautja sulked for a little bit before slamming his fist down on the table. His drink jumped in the air slightly, making noise as it landed back on its bottom. Again, the people around the booth noticed the commotion.

"What's wrong?" asked Bathory, lowering his voice.

"That fucking Lieutenant. I know she did that. I know it was her." Yautja rested his elbows on the table and leaned in to whisper to the other mage. "I am losing everyone. These increased police efforts are just destroying me. She's leading all of this on, and just...just isn't stopping. Maybe I will call in a hit."

Bathory looked around, making sure no one could hear them. He leaned in and whispered as well. "I don't know how feasible that really is, though."

"Well, you're the powerhouse here. You're AA. Can't you go and take her out? It will be worth it, trust me."

"Maybe I can take her, but I'm not powerful enough to fight her and the entire city TSAB. Because you know they'll come back in spades to get her killer."

Yautja took a deep breath as he looked to the side, then down at the table. Then, he leaned back in and the two kept whispering. "Well, I have a couple other plans. I could go back to that impersonator and see if he'd get her to be caught 'doing something illegal', if you will. Something like dealing drugs 'herself' or police brutality."

"Define 'police brutality' for me" said Bathory. "Even when I was on the TSAB, you could beat the hell out of someone if they were withholding viable information. And it seems like here, it's now almost mandatory. I think we'd get her compliments, if anything."

"Okay, I understand. I just...I just don't want her fucking up anything more for me in the coming days. I don't want her ruining anything about that event I keep telling you about, but I just have no idea what to do."

"Well, I've got a plan" said a new voice standing next to Yautja. He sprung back in surprise to see Murder Caliente waiting there next to the booth.

"MURDER!" Yautja yelled. "DON'T STARTLE ME LIKE THAT!" Every other conversation around the booth died as the cafe patrons all turned to look at the three of them. Yautja sheepishly apologized to everyone as Bathory let Murder sit next to him. The boy slid onto the booth and immediately opened his mouth.

"I've got a plan," he said energetically. "I know how to deal with her."

"Ok, first of all, indoor voice PLEASE," said Yautja, starting at the boy. He leaned back in, and the three of them all got closer. "And second of all, we'll think of the plan. You go outside and wait until we're done, okay?"

"No, no, I have a good one. Can you just hear me out, please?"

Yautja interrupted him. "I can guarantee that yours is complete garbage and every single part of it will go wrong."

"Yautja, please?" asked the boy. "Please just listen before you say anythi-"

Yautja looked between the two mages opposite of him. "Why is this kid even here? Who invited him?"

"Me," answered Bathory. Contrasting the other man's annoyance, Bathory showed the boy support. "I invited him because I knew this was why you really wanted to meet. I think he can help out."

"Really?" asked Yautja. "You think he can help out? What about that device you wanted so much, Murder? What about when it flipped on everyone and tried to kill us?"

"Kill us, really? 'Us'?" said Bathory, sending his words like spikes across the table. "I don't remember the part where you fought alongside the two of us. But I definitely do remember the part where you just sulked around instead of helping out."

"You know what I remember? You know what I clearly remember happening?" responded Yautja, fighting back with the same spite. "I remember you telling this kid about fifteen times that what he was doing was a bad idea." He looked right at the boy. "Did you listen to him? No. Did you just go along with your plan? Yes. Did it go very very badly? YES, IT DID." Yautja pointed towards the exit door and made sure Murder could see what he was pointing at. "Now go away, and if we come up with something that involves you, I'll tell you."

Dejected, the boy got out of the seat and headed for the door. Bathory tried to get him to stay, but Murder just kept walking out of the café and disappeared. When Bathory turned back, Yautja was taking another nice, relaxing sip of his drink, staring out the windows away from where Murder went. The frustrated mage just shook his head, making himself keep his cool.

When Yautja turned back again, he seemed to be back to normal. "One more thing - I got this AMF field generator that I'm really hoping we can use because I spent a lot of money on it. Maybe we could catch her in it and take her out like that."

By the time Bathory was done going over what Yautja had just said, he had an obvious answer. "Well, yes, that would reduce her magic output immensely. So what do you do once you've gotten her in the field? Send me in? Because if I go in, I'm also getting affected."

"Well, I still need to work things through. But I will come up with something. Trust me."

Leaving things up in the air, Yautja started to finish his drink. As Yautja took a sip, looked around, took another sip, though some more, and otherwise took his sweet time, Bathory just waited there. So when he heard Murder's voice in his head, he was more than willing to talk to him.

"_Hey, I wasn't kidding when I said I have a plan to deal with Negati. If you help me out, we can do it together."_

_ "I didn't doubt you at all. Also, at this moment, any idea is better than no idea. I'll hear you out on this one."_

_ "Ok. I've done some modifications to my device, and now it can pick up police radio. If I hear something that I know Negati will be at, I'll tell you, and we can meet up."_

"Done," said Yautja, setting his empty glass down. He immediately began getting out of the booth. "Hey, can you come with me for a while?" he asked Bathory.

"Sure," Bathory replied. He got up and followed Yautja to the exit. "What are we going to do?"

Yautja stepped outside, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. He spoke as he started walking off again. "I'm going to go see who else I've lost so far."

Bathory followed him, but felt like he should turn around. He did so, and behind him, a few buildings away, Murder stood there on the sidewalk watching him. Bathory nodded his head, and the boy nodded in response.

* * *

May 31st, 0076  
Victamius  
11:20 PM

On the west side of the city, Murder looked up the street at the police cars barricading off the block ahead. However, only a couple officers remained by the cars; most of them were busy with something out of sight. Avoiding the watch of the officers, the boy looked back at the open section of the street, waiting for help to arrive. And when he saw Bathory wandering around, looking around for him, Murder waved his hands back and forth and caught the man's attention. Making sure that he was also unseen by the roadblock, Bathory ducked into the alleyway.

"Alright," he said. "What's the radio saying?"

Murder held the purple square up and let it broadcast. Through it, multiple voices were confirming that 'the place' was all clear. After a few random officers had spoken, Negati could clearly be heard.

"Alright, I'm going in for last inspection. Could one of Satel's teams come with me?"

Murder beckoned over towards the roadblock. "There was some kind of storage facility that ended up being filled with weapons. The police were talking about raiding it all day. Negati's leading the response team."

"So," Bathory asked, "is this an assassination?" Murder nodded, and Bathory looked again at the roadblock. "And how exactly are you going to...well...do it?"

"Well, I've gotten a few other modifications to my device, and now it can fire live ammo." Murder reached in his pocket and pulled out a single rifle bullet.

Bathory took it and examined it closely, his hand shaking. "How did...how did you even get this?"

"Doesn't matter. So anyways, my plan is to get up there," said the boy, pointing to the rooftops, "and take her out. Simple, right?"

"Sure. Simple enough." Bathory handed the bullet back, and the boy immediately began the climb. He got onto a dumpster in the alley, and jumped from that to a fire escape ladder that was hanging down from the third floor. He scaled it, and Bathory followed him. Silently, the two ascended the stairs up to the roof, and took a short break when they got there.

"Thanks again for helping me out" said the boy.

"No problem. Yautja and I tried, but we were getting preoccupied. Well, we weren't factoring in live ammo, obviously, but still."

Both of them though back to the conversation they all had yesterday. "I'm glad you listen to me," said Murder, "but why doesn't Yautja? Even with you backing me up, he still just insults me all the time."

"Well, let's go back to the first time the two of us met. I saw you, you gave your little speech, said your name, and I couldn't stop laughing. And I admit, until you helped us out on the highway, I thought you were a complete joke. Now I see that you're learning, but Yautja never got that last part. I hate to say this, but your name doesn't really help that."

The two began crossing from rooftop to rooftop over the police barricade and to the next street over. As they did so, Murder continued. "I just worried that everyone would bully me, and that no one would take me seriously, so I came up with a name that no one would want to mess with."

"Well, you're just bullying yourself. You're leaving terrible first impressions with it. And as you can see with Yautja, some people never make a second impression."

The two of them reached the end of the rooftops and looked out at the storage unit across the street. Even more cars were parked right outside the entrance, and a thin stream of criminals were being led out of the building and thrown into the cars. The two assassins sat down and waited for the activity to die off. After a long wait, Bathory spoke.

"Murder?" he asked. "What's your real name?"

Murder looked at him, a bit shocked. "Wh...why do you want to know that?"

"Well, talking to you, I'm talking to this persona that tries to look cool and act tough. But I want to know the person under that who's actually tough and actually competent - the person that set this all in motion."

"Okay...a little weird, but still..." said the boy, relenting. "It's Arci. Not telling you my last name, though. Just Arci."

"Arci?" When he responded, Bathory chuckled. "So the 'fake name' you came up with was actually your real name?"

"Well, yeah," mumbled Arci, turning away. "Didn't have much time to think of one."

In response, Bathory smiled and leaned over a bit. "Well, hello there, Arci."

"H...hi, I guess." Arci looked back at Bathory. "Well, you wanted to know my real name so badly - what's your real name, huh? It's common courtesy to return the favor."

Bathory sighed. Should he? Should he tell the boy? Since the incident, he had never given his name to anyone he didn't have to give it to. He gave it to Yautja because he would have died otherwise, and he had done it for that same reason in the past, but he never just mentioned it off-hand. He didn't know who would go running off to collect a bounty reward, and who wouldn't. However, looking at Arci, he felt something different. Arci wasn't a two-face criminal who would backstab him if given the chance. He was a young, ambitious kid who probably chose to do crime to look tough. Bathory patted the boy on the back.

"You want to know my real name? I'll tell you the first, and you can probably fill in the last. It's Bathory."

The gears in Arci's head turned, and just like Bathory expected, Arci's face lit up. "Oh! You're that guy who...yeah..."

The man nodded. "Bathory Kardenis, killed his captain, still at large. It's alright. I've come to accept it. Now, of course you can't tell anyone about me, or I'll have to leave. Understand?"

Arci clenched his fist, proud of himself. "I knew it! I knew that first time I saw you battle that you HAD to be more that a random guy. That's why I asked about you earlier." He moved around the rooftop to sit in front of Bathory. "Tell me - what's it like doing what you do? Being so good that nothing can stop you?"

"Terrible. It's absolutely awful knowing that I have to do this to survive. I wish it could all just be done." Bathory picked up that this wasn't the response the Arci was looking for. "What?" he asked the boy. "Do you want to become a professional criminal or something?"

The boy lost faith in his answer. He said it, but broke eye contact and looked everywhere else. "I...I guess I want to..."

"Think about what's happened to you lately. You almost lost your friend in that unison accident, and the day before, you were this close to being caught. What would your family say if you ended up in prison?"

"They wouldn't care!" shouted Arci. "They hardly notice me being gone as much as I am. They don't ask me what I do or anything. If I went away for a couple months, they'd probably get over it immediately."

"A couple months? Arci, if you're caught, I guarantee you that you're looking at double digits - in years. I think they'd notice that."

"We...well what about you?" Arci shot back. "What about your parents? Do they know what you've done?"

Bathory slumped against the short railing at the edge of the building. "Of course dad knows. The day after I did it, he was on the news, telling them all about how he couldn't believe I did such a thing."

Bathory clearly remember where he was when he saw his father on TV. Stopping to watch, he heard his dad ranting about how betrayed he felt and that he didn't know how horrible his son really was. Raising his voice loudly above the newscasters, Bathory's father looked straight at the camera and told his son directly how much he hated him. That glare and those words would often appear again late at night, when Bathory would drift back into his mind. That might even be the one that made him feel worse, since neither Kaisa nor Captain Shuftan could return from the dead, and Arin couldn't be restored to normal. However, his dad was still there. Still living in the one-story house paid for by his disabilities claim. Still there in Siba Capital. Bathory knew his father was bitter, not sad and suicidal - Even without his son around, he'd just live there alone until his body itself gave out on him. If there were better circumstances, Bathory wanted to go back. However, he had a feeling that whatever reaction he'd get from his father wouldn't have changed.

Arci returned to the railing. "And...and your mom?"

Bathory looked at the boy but kept quiet. Through his gaze, Arci picked up on the subtext. "I see...sorry I asked."

"Oh, it's not that bad. My dad was always real devoted to the TSAB - what he really wanted was a military son. Soon as mom had me, I became his main focus and everyone else just got brushed aside. Mom left when I was two - It's fine, I'd have liked to know who she was...but...it...it doesn't matter. But yeah, he pushed for me to be an officer from the time I was born basically. Gave me his intelligent device and enlisted me into the combat mage programs as soon as I could do them. I mean, I know there was a large amount of 'living through me' if you will, since he couldn't fight anymore, but I don't mind. I was never unhappy at all."

"Well, what happened to him?"

Bathory laughed. "Oh, Arci, you ask so many questions."

The boy put his hands up in defense. "Sorry, I just...you don't need to answer that."

"No, it's alright. You know everything else about me." Bathory sat back up and got comfortable. "So dad never really told me the exact story, but when I was... oh, I'd say four maybe, something happened. He was in a battle, something or someone caught him off guard, attacked him, and just severed his spine. Like, completely. Can't move his legs, has to wheel himself around everywhere, and of course he was done. Done fighting completely."

"Couldn't that be fixed?" asked Arci. "Couldn't he have gotten some implant or something?"

Bathory breathed in as he looked at the boy. "Why whould you want to do that? If you're any part cyborg on Siba, you're treated horribly. I mean, you replace one thing, then you replace another, soon you don't even feel pain and nothing can stop you if you go rampant. Siba doesn't want that happening - hell, lots of planets don't want everyone turning into robots just to get an advantage over others. Once you start, would you ever stop? So it's best to just draw the line low in that case. I mean, if I fought someone who just brushed everything off, and could run forever, and could do all kinds of unnatural things, and could only do so well because they were more robot than human, well that wouldn't be very fun. So anyways, if you have cybernetic implants at all, you're hounded all the time and you don't get a moment of privacy. And dad didn't want any of that - 'at least I'm still a hundred percent citizen' - that's what he'd say."

"Did you hear about what happened on Midchilda with cyborgs?" asked Arci.

"Like, today? Or yesterday, or a month ago, or a year ago? When are you talking about?"

"Oh, a few months ago, last September or October or so."

Bathory put his hands in the air. "No. If it happened in the last sixteen months, I haven't been paying that much attention to the news. Haven't had the time."

"Well, from what I remember," said Arci, "all these combat cyborgs attacked Cranagan, but they were dealt with just fine."

"Well, Midchilda is Midchilda. You could send some galaxy-destroying superweapon to Midchilda and it would get taken care of, easily. I'm sure everyone there just knocked those robots around for an hour and got back to work. But anyways - all tangents aside, after that, my dad was done fighting. Early, early retirement for him. He hated it, and waited every day to hear what amazing things his son was doing. Of course, me killing Captain Shuftan out of 'sheer rage and hatred' caught him way off guard, and he felt like I just betrayed him completely. I don't know what he's doing without me now, but I know he'd be fine if he never saw me again."

The sound of cars starting up and leaving caused the two mages to look back at the street. Every car had driven off except for one which sat there, lights flashing, in front of the facility. Lieutenant Winter stood by the car, talking to someone on a screen.

"Okay, Arci, time to get set up" said Bathory. He moved back as Arci brought the purple gem out of his pocket.

"Advanced Carbine, activate." The gem turned into the staff, and Arci set it down on the rooftop. Holding the bullet, he said "load bullet" and a chamber just below the firing head opened up. The boy placed the single bullet inside, chambering it, and then the staff closed back up. Bathory got up and walked to the other side of the rooftop.

"Alright, just tell me if you hit her or not."

Arci looked over at him. "What? What are you doing?"

Sheepishly, Bathory turned away from him. "I can't watch."

Leaving the weapon on the ground, Arci stood up and walked over to Bathory. "Why not? Don't you want to see for sure if it hits?"

Bathory shook his head. "I can't. I mean, she's still an officer."

"Exactly!" said Arci. "That's why we're here, remember? So she quits stepping on Yautja's toes?"

Bathory turned around rapidly. "Arci, the more you talk, the less I want to do this. I don't attack the TSAB because I hate them, alright? I don't want any of them dead. I still...I still...it's just circumstance, alright? It's hard to see them as the enemy. Understand?" He brushed Arci off as the boy got closer and turned back around. "Go, go do it - you're probably missing your chance."

Arci ran back to his weapon. Picking it up, he aimed down at Negati. She was still talking to someone on a screen, but as Arci watched, she finished. All alone, she leaned back against the car and rested her head on the roof. She wouldn't see this coming. Arci made sure that her head was in his weapon's sights, took a deep breath, and said "Advanced Carbine, fire."

The bullet shot out of the device, heading down from the rooftops towards Negati's head. It covered the distance almost immediately. However, a few feet from her head, it instead slammed into an invisible barrier that made itself known as the bullet's kinetic energy rippled across it, making red patterns that looked almost like lightning. The barrier took it all, and a crumpled up bullet fell harmlessly to the road. Negati looked up at Arci and grinned.

"Shit!" the boy yelled. He jumped back as Bathory ran over to him. "They saw it coming! It was a trap! I didn't know, I swear!"

Bathory looked over the edge at Negati staring up at them. As Arci went into panic mode, Bathory's mind started racing as he looked around, imagining where the inevitable ambush would be coming from. "Stay calm," he said as his eyes settled on a doorway that was on the roof. He predicted that a mage had to be coming up the stairs right then.

"Stay calm? That's impossible" shouted Arci. "We're trapped! What did you say? Decades in jail for me?"

Bathory put his hands on the boy's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "No, that's not going to happen. Stay close to me; I'll get us out of this." Bathory looked back at the door and saw the handle begin to turn. He charged the door, and a male officer opened it, already aiming in front of him.

"Stop right there and turn yourselves i-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence before Bathory jumped and kicked him, sending the mage crashing back down the stairs. Bathory followed, and they both laid hands on each other at the base of the stairs. There wasn't even room for a flashy strike arts battle; in this fight, both mages were raw and brutal as they swung at each other and were pushed into the walls. The officer had his right hand in a death grip around his pistol-like device, and kept trying to get attacks in with it. Bathory kept pushing it aside, knowing that getting a blast off would swing the odds against him. Of all the things though, after more struggling, Bathory was clubbed in the head with it, and soon found himself slamming into a corner head-first, his left arm held painfully against his back with his elbow bent and his hand facing his right shoulder. The officer kept him pinned there as his device was aimed at Bathory.

"Like I said, you're under arrest. Give up now and I won't break your arm."

In response, Bathory pushed away from the wall. The officer, trained in countering these types of moves, got Bathory back against the wall. Of course, Bathory thought ahead as well and got his right foot over to the wall on the left of him.

The officer pushed the trapped arm further up towards Bathory's right shoulder, and Bathory gasped as his arm felt like it was on fire.

"Seriously, I am going to break it if you don't submit. Do you hear me?"

In between pained gasps, Bathory responded. "Nice amount of stretching now. But you need to work on getting it right the first time."

The officer blinked several times. "What? What do you mean?"

As soon as he finished, Bathory pushed off the left wall with his foot, twisting into the mage behind him. They both fell to the floor as Bathory's arm was freed, and he wasted no time rolling the other mage onto his stomach and trapping the officer's right arm, forcing it straight up in the air with the officer's weapon held up facing nowhere. Bathory pulled back on the trapped arm near the shoulder to finish the hold. Now, the other mage was the one gasping in searing pain. He struggled, but Bathory got his move right the first time.

"How...how do...how do you know that?" asked the officer, his right hand trying not to extend and drop his weapon. Seeing this, Bathory pulled a little more, causing the officer to cry out.

"Drop it," said the man on top. "Drop it, and maybe I won't break YOUR arm, got it?"

Unable to escape, the officer slowly let go until the device fell from his hand, hitting his back. Bathory kicked it away before getting up and quickly putting the officer in a bind. He went over to the device and aimed Aphelion at it.

[**DEVICE LOCK**]

The pistol was encased in a dark green barrier that forced it back into its standby form. The barrier shrunk to tightly hold the device and prevent it from being accessed. Panting, Bathory ran back to the stairs. "Alright, come on, it's safe now" he yelled up, expecting Arci to come into view. He waited, but the boy didn't appear. "Hey, come on," he yelled louder, but again, there was no response. Arci had gone off without him. Bathory cursed as he sprinted back up the stairs.

Rooftops away, Arci had decided to run almost blindly. He yelled as bursts of magic shot up at him from the streets, either clipping the edge of the rooftop or narrowly avoiding him. Jumping across the gaps, he eventually mistimed a jump and crashed on the balcony of the top floor of the building he jumped to. Not even stopping, he aimed his device at a window and fired, blasting the glass and the frame out of the way. He climbed into the room of an empty office building and ran into the halls. He didn't know which directing he was facing or where he was going. He was running away, and that was all that was on his mind. He sprinted through empty hallway after empty hallway, down staircase after staircase, and almost began to think that he should hole up in there somewhere when the door right in front of him opened up and another officer ran in front of him.

She didn't even get a single word in before Arci collided into her. They fell down, and Arci sat up, scooting back as he fired wildly at the officer. She was forced to shield the attacks as Arci got back up and began running off. However, the officer followed right behind him, getting single shots off when she could.

Finally, one of the doors Arci busted through led outside. Unfortunately for him, he was now standing on the ground, facing off against five different officers. He stopped in his tracks to turn around, but the girl who was following him pushed him forwards. He stumbled, and the six officers surrounded him as he waved his device back and forth wildly between everyone. As he did so, Lieutenant Winter entered the circle. She stopped a few feet in front of him, the red lines of magic glowing on her hand and arm.

"Hi there," she said, "I'd like to ask you a few things. Don't run, and especially don't shoot at me again, got it? I decide what happens to you."

Arci trembled, but followed her instructions.

Negati cleared her throat. "First off, who are you?"

Arci kept his mouth shut. Not a single word came out.

The Lieutenant sighed, sounding very annoyed. "Fine. I'll get that later. Second off, who sent you? Who wants me dead so badly that they'll go and get live ammo for the job?"

Again, Arci stayed quiet. His will to stay strong was the only thing overriding his panic. Negati gave another loud sigh and backed out of the circle. "Okay," she said, "I tried to make it easier on you. Everyone, he's yours."

Arci's eyes opened wide as six different devices began to prime an attack. He heard all six mages saying a flurry of attack names, but all of them said one word together - fire. Arci screamed and closed his eyes. Before the attacks could reach him, a dark green circular barrier formed around him, protecting the boy as magic kept pounding into it. Arci slowly opened his eyes when he realized he wasn't being hit, and looked at the green barrier. Suddenly, Bathory dropped into it from up above and braced himself against the ground in front of Arci. He was in his barrier jacket and Aphelion was active around his arm, glowing brightly. Bathory stood up and faced the boy.

"Arci, I thought I told you to follow me."

"I'm sorry, I mean it, I won't do it again."

Outside the barrier, Negati looked between it and her fellow officers. "Cut it!" she screamed. "Cut that barrier. I want those two lying at my damn feet." The mages boosted their efforts, and Bathory struggled to keep the barrier up. Inside of it, he made sure that Arci was looking at him.

"Alright, this time, you are going to stay by me. Got it?"

Arci nodded. "Got it!"

Bathory knelt down and closed his eyes, concentrating on the barrier. He clenched his fists and pushed magic into his spell. The barrier began to grow outwards, and the mages started backing up as the barrier encompassed where they once were. Finally, Bathory opened his eyes and shouted "Break!" The barrier exploded, sending all seven mages around the two of them stumbling backwards. Before they recovered, Bathory grabbed Arci's hand and started to run towards the building Arci had been in.

"Hold on tight," said Bathory again, and this time Arci knew what to expect. Still, that didn't stop him from being surprised as Aphelion dug into the wall and the two of them shot up the side of the building. As Aphelion carried them along the road, Arci looked back and saw a mage flying through the air after them.

"Air mage!" he yelled, and on the next leap through the air, Bathory rolled around, aiming behind them and firing at the airborne follower. Turning back around, he barely managed to stop in time to avoid another large blast, and did some evasive maneuvers as a second pursuer joined the fight. Not used to carrying someone with him, Bathory needed extra room to do any quick turnarounds or transfers, and came close several times to being hit.

"Arci, fire back" he said, rocketing straight down a building and along the street, going back the way they came from. Arci tried to shoot his staff one-handed, but with Bathory moving around so much, and with the pursuers moving around so much, it was almost impossible to hit anything.

Looking behind him, Bathory needed to put pressure on as well. "Arci, hold on really tightly now" he said as dug his left wrist guard into the street. He pulled Aphelion out, and now his left wrist was carrying them along. He aimed behind him and fired shots straight at the mages. They kept up the heat, but had to defend themselves.

"What do we do?" asked Arci as Bathory went back up the walls of the buildings. "How do we escape? What is our plan? Do you have one?"

"Yes, I have a plan" said Bathory, flying further up into the sky as the buildings he launched to got taller and taller.

Arci kept firing, but he was getting dizzy and his shots were going further and further away from their targets. "Okay, what is it? Will it work?"

"You and your questions!" Bathory shouted as the two swung around a corner, going out horizontally like a flagpole before settling back next to the wall. "There's a couple hideouts around here. They won't ask anything if you don't tell them anything, alright? We just need to get rid of these two and we'll go straight there." Turning back to fire again, he finished up. "Just keep up the pressure, and we'll be fine, okay?"

In response, Arci screamed. "Bathory, below us!"

Bathory launched off the top floor of a tall building, only looking down and realizing too late that they were about to be intercepted by a large beam of magic heading straight up at them. Bathory turned to hold on to Arci, but the two of them were hit head on and Bathory lost his grip. He flew one way, grasping at nothing as Arci was launched away from him. Spinning towards the ground, Bathory flailed wildly for a building or anything to latch on to. He was unfortunate, though, and braced himself as he crashed against the ground. His barrier jacket suffered as it did its best to protect the body within from the long fall, and Bathory grunted as he bounced along the ground. When he finally stopped, he immediately got to his feet (as painful as that was) and quickly ran out of sight.

Arci, meanwhile, soared through the air before the mage who had fired the attack caught him several stories above the ground. The mage flew off with the boy and landed in front of a police car, dumping Arci onto the ground. Looking forward, he only saw a pair of shoes as one stomped down onto his right hand. He cried and opened it reflexively, and Advanced Carbine was kicked away from him and locked just like Bathory had done earlier. He was pulled to his knees, and the shoes in front of him turned into the barrier jacket of Negati Winter.

"Thanks Satel" she said, and the man who plucked Arci from midair took his place next to Negati.

"No problem," he remarked. As Negati looked down at Arci, the boy backed away and pleaded with her.

"Please...I don't...I don't want to go..."

Negati answered back by raising her leg and kicking Arci in the side of his head. He fell over, holding himself up with his hands until Negati sent another kick into his chest. Arci's arms gave out as he coughed and gagged on his spit. He didn't get a break as Negati rolled him over and pressed her foot onto Arci's throat. Arci clawed against her leg, but she didn't care.

"Let's do this again." she shouted, stepping down a little harder. "Who sent you to kill me?"

Arci gargled as words failed to form. The mage next to Negati looked down at the choking figure. "Uhh, Negati," he said, "I think that's a little too hard."

"Ugh, fine." Negati raised her foot, but also reached down and picked Arci up. She turned him to face the police car, bent him forward, and ran him head-first into the side of the car a couple times before sprawling him out on top of the trunk. "Now, I swear, I will beat you unconscious if you keep quiet. Who set this up?"

"No one!" Arci screamed. "No one. I did it. I set it up myself. I got the bullet, I tracked you down, I did it."

Negati looked pleased for a split second before she turned aggressive again. "You son of a bitch!" she yelled, dragging Arci off the car and dropping him onto the road again. Arci rolled over to see Negati looking at Satel, who was holding some piece of gear in his hand. Negati nodded, looked back at Arci, and said "Leg up" as she pressed down on his throat again. Fighting her, Arci kicked, and Negati took the opportunity to trap the leg and hold it up in the air. Satel wrapped the device around Arci's shin, clamped it tight, and activated it. His eyes bulged wide as the device felt like it dug into his veins and his linker core froze up. Reading his mind, Negati answered.

"Limiter, full power. Get used to it; I don't think it's ever coming off. Welcome to the rest of your miserable life."

"Alright, Negati, you've had your fun. Can we go now?" asked Satel.

"Sure." Negati got Arci to his feet, and was ready to just bind him and put him in the backseat when something struck her. She stared at the boy for a few seconds, then her eyes went wide and she started yelling at him. "You! You were on the highway earlier this week. I knew you seemed familiar." She slapped him hard and Arci's head rolled all the way to the side. She brought it back to her and held it in place. "Who are you?" she asked.

Arci started stammering again, and Negati shook him. "I thought I was done beating you to a pulp, but I'll keep going. I'm still pissed, you got that? Answer me when I speak to you!"

"M-M-Murder!" Arci finally said. "It's Murder Caliente!"

The Lieutenant just stared at him. "Bullshit," she yelled as she shook him again. "Bullshit, that's not a name that I'd even think was real."

"I don't know, Lieutenant" said Satel from the driver seat. "We've gotten reports of someone with that name before."

"Well that doesn't make any sense, Lieutenant" countered Negati. Finally, she shook her head and threw Arci in the backseat. Instead of getting in the front, though, she sat down alongside the boy.

"Uhh, Negati, what are you doing?" asked the driver.

Negati looked over at the boy who was cowering away from her. "Just drive, Satel. I'll get some more out of this kid before we get back."

"Just can't wait to get him to an interrogation room?"

"Right," she said. "I just can't wait that long."

Satel pushed down on the pedal and the car went off down the road to the Southern Victamius Station. Unbeknownst to the three inside, Bathory watched it leave from a nearby rooftop.

"Hey Aphelion?" he asked.

[**WHAT IS IT, MASTER**]

"Do you have any ideas on what to do?"

[**NEGATIVE, MY MASTER - IT IS OBVIOUS THOUGH THAT HE NEEDS YOUR HELP**]

"Great. I'll figure something out on the go." Bathory let Aphelion dig into the roof and he took off after the car, making sure he was far enough away to avoid detection.


	9. Pariah And Protector Part 2

The police car sped along the street and Bathory followed. He stayed several blocks behind it, zipping along the walls of the buildings, but followed it through every turn it made through the city grid. Worrying, he knew that time was running out.

"Aphelion, I'm going to be honest. I don't know what I can do. Should I just head out of the city now?"

[**NEGATIVE, MY MASTER - YOU HAVE NOT CONSIDERED ALL THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE**]

"Oh, I have thought about Yautja, if that's what you were going to say. And he is not going to like this."

[**THERE IS A HIGH CHANCE THAT HE WILL OFFER HIS ASSISTANCE - I BELIEVE THAT HE CAN BE OF DEFINITE USE**]

Bathory watched the car activate its lights and blast through the intersections. If it didn't stop at all, it would arrive at the station with Arci in tow within ten minutes. If ever there was a chance to save the boy, it would be while he was still in the car. But Bathory didn't know how much he could do if the car kept up its speed - it would first need to be stopped.

Hoping for the best, Bathory contacted Yautja. He tried to sound in control.

"_Yautja, what are you doing at the moment?"_

_ "Gah, it's seriously scary to have a voice appear in your brain out of nowhere."_

_ "Alright, well, what are you doing now?"_

_ "I'm at home. Efra and I are watching a movie."_

Bathory sighed. The car turned onto the highway and sped off even faster. "_Well, I kind of need your help._" From the pause, he knew Yautja was probably considering and then already dismissing him.

"_With what?_" the older man asked.

"_Alright, brace yourself, I know you're not going to like this. A few minutes ago, Arc...uh...Murder and I went to assassinate Negati. It didn't work. He was captured and now he's being driven to the South station, and we need to help him out."_

_ "Why? I told you that kid's plan would fail."_

_ "Yautja, he knows where you live. He knows who you are, and he knows who I really am. He will rat us out if he gets locked up. If you don't help, then you might as well leave town right now along with me." _Once again the conversation froze, but when Yautja returned, he sounded much more worried.

"_You're right. You're right. Damn it! I'm getting up - what do you want me to do?"_

Bathory imagined the possible route of Negati and Satel's car. The shortest path would be to get off the highway and travel straight to the station - going nearby the Crawmer apartment as they did. "_You're going to need to get in your car and cut them off. Grab the AMF generator as well."_

_ "Is that necessary? I'd rather use it on something better than freeing this kid."_

_ "The TSAB got a limiter onto him. Not only will it drain him, but it acts like a beacon as well. The bureau will always know where he is as long as that's on him. We need the field to jam it for as long as it can so we have some extra time, and we'll need a way to unlock it, or else the bureau will have a straight shot to just apprehend Ar...Murder again."_

_ "Fine, fine, I got it. Running down to my car now. So what exactly am I doing?"_

_ "Go up the street and wait for the car to come by, and block it. I'll deal with it once it's stopped."_

_ "Alright, but this better work. If we can't get that limiter off him, I'm just killing him myself."_

_ "Don't even joke about that. This will work." _Bathory's head lowered as he kept soaring along. "...At least, it better" he muttered.

In the car, Arci shrunk away from the Lieutenant. His back to the door, he wished he could melt away from Negati as she confronted him.

"Alright, listen to me," she said. She grabbed the boy's shoulders and leaned in, pressing her head against his. "You are in a very bad place right now. You're not the first person to try to take my life. You didn't even do the best job." With that, she slammed him against the window and leaned back in. "You are an idiot. An absolute idiot, you know that? And you're a liar! Like hell your name is 'Murder' - tell me what it really is before I put you in a coma."

Arci slammed his eyes shut. "It really is that, I swear! I'm not lying."

"Here, I'll figure it out myself" responded Negati. She removed her hands from Arci's shoulders and shoved the boy, forcefully reaching into his pockets to find an identification card. She grabbed it and held it up, ready to smugly read off a different name, but froze dumbfounded at the name on the card - Murder Caliente.

"Bullshit. Bullshit!" she yelled again, tossing it behind her. She reached for Arci again, and he flailed his arms in an attempt to push her off him. Negati held her left arm up, and again lines of pulsing red formed on it. She fired a blast of energy at Arci, and he first reflexively tried to block it with a shield, causing his locked linker core to burn in his chest. Right after that, it burned again from the impact of the attack. Arci screamed and tried to telepathically call for Bathory. Instead of the message getting out, that was blocked as well and it just bounced around in his mind. All in all, the boy had no control over the situation.

"Hey Negati, can you try not to make him pass out?" said the driver. "I don't really want to have to explain how that happened."

"Oh, it's fine," said the domineering woman. "I'll do only as much as you require me to." She said that last part through gritted teeth, staring daggers at Arci. "Well, I guess if 'Murder' really is your name, then fine. Not like you could possibly get your way out of this. So, now that that's answered, help me out a little more and tell me who your accomplice was."

Arci's mouth ran before he could stop it. "No, I can't!"

Negati shoved him down harder than ever, causing him to fall back onto the backseats. The Lieutenant pressed her knee into Arci's stomach and stared straight down at him. "Oh, I think you can, and you will," she said. "Do you have any idea what sentence you're looking at?"

Arci stammered "D...d...decades in jail?"

"Decades?" Negati laughed loudly and looked at her fellow officer. "Decades, Satel. He thinks that's it."

Satel chuckled as well. "Where is this kid from, Midchilda?" He rolled his eyes. "Actually, on Midchilda they'd probably recruit him for this."

Negati looked back at her victim. "Ohh, that was almost cute. But you need a reality check. I have a sentence for you, and I'm thinking longer than decades. I'm thinking the rest of your life."

"The rest of my life?" asked Arci. "But...but I..."

"So that's too harsh, huh? Well, maybe I'll help you out a tiny bit if you help us out. Tell me who your partner was."

Bathory. Bathory Kardenis! Just say Bathory! Arci wanted nothing more than to get the officer on top of him to back off a little bit. But he knew he couldn't betray the one person who really wanted to help him out like that.

"He never told me his name! I don't know it. I really don't."

"I know you do. I know you do you little shithead!" Negati began to let her anger out on the boy. She brought her fist back and struck him right below his eye, then immediately brought her arm back again. Arci turned his head and pushed it into the seat, screaming in his head to Bathory, to Yautja, to any allies he could think of to help him. None of those messages got out, though, and the Lieutenant struck him several more times.

"Negati!" shouted the driver. Hearing this, she quit her assault and Satel continued. "Please don't do this in the back of my car. Just wait a few more minutes."

Negati took several deep breaths, adhering to Satel's words. She finally released her knee from Arci's chest. "Alright. I'll wait. But soon as we get back," she said, pointing at the boy, "it will be you, me, and NO ONE ELSE. You are telling me everything, you hear me? Because I know how much you're hiding."

Negati couldn't truly know that last part, and just said it to keep getting under Arci's skin, but it worked. He'd try his best to keep that information hidden, but he was already cracking.

Far behind the three, Bathory continued following them. Assuming that Yautja would make good on stopping the car, he was figuring out what to do then.

"Aphelion," he asked, "what's my current mana at?"

[**YOU ARE AT 47 PERCENT OF YOUR CURRENT MAXIMUM AMOUNT - HOWEVER, THAT AMOUNT IS NOW ONLY 85 PERCENT OF YOUR TOTAL POTENTIAL**]

"Don't care about that last part right now. So I've got around half left?" he said to himself. Looking away and thinking, he mumbled to himself about how he wished he had another cartridge to use, and that after this he should ask Yautja for more. Turning back to his device, he asked it a question. "Do you think that's enough for a P.M.D.R?"

[**I AM STRONGLY AGAINST USING THAT, MY MASTER - WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT, YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO USE IT EFFECTIVELY**]

"True, true. I was just throwing that out there. Besides, I haven't done one of those since, well, since I was an officer - it would probably come out really unfocused. Guess that settles it - I'll just do an O.B. on the car instead."

[**EVEN WITH THAT, YOU WILL HAVE VERY LITTLE ENERGY LEFT TO DEFEND YOURSELF WITH**]

"I'm not planning on doing any fighting after this. Even if it means I go all-out, it's the attack I'll use. I need do the best I can to turn this around."

The police car turned off the highway and was now on a long, straight shot to the station. Bathory looked across the city at where he hoped Yautja was.

"_Yautja, the car's coming up to your position."_

_ "I know - I can hear it. Those sirens are LOUD."_

_ "So I'm guessing you're ready, huh? Alright, I'll set my end of this up."_

_ "And I just need to stop it, right? And then what will happen?"_

_ "You'll see if it works," _said Bathory. He ended pursuit of the car, breaking off to the left to get in position.

Back in the car, as it sped along, Negati seemed content just sitting down, legs spread across the rest of the seats, watching Arci as he retreated into the other corner.

"Hey Satel," she asked, "so can you get the two of us a room?"

"Well, depends on the situation. Does this kid know details about anything that could happen soon? Maybe his friends are doing something big tomorrow. If so, we'd really love to know that now."

"Hmm, good point." Negati kicked Arci and he looked over at her. "You know all about something like that, don't you?"

"N...n...no...I don't..." Arci stammered.

Negati kept lightly kicking him. "Oh, I think you do...I think you do..." She gazed over at her fellow Lieutenant. "Hey, can you also make sure the cameras are turned off? Maybe they have another malfunction."

The adult male looked in the backseat and simply humored her. "Sure, why not. Strange how much that's been happening recently."

"Yeah. Really unfortunate..." she said, trailing off as she looked back at Arci. She leaned in again and peered straight into his eyes. "...for you", she finished. Arci's heart raced and he felt paralyzed.

Satel turned back to see a brown car rolling slowly into the intersection ahead of him. His nerves jolted, and he pressed down on the brakes. "Hold on!" he yelled, even as Arci and Negati continued traveling and slammed into the back of the front seats. The car squealed loudly, almost screaming as it tried to stop in time. As the brown car in front of it slowly rolled to a stop, the police car grinded to a halt less than a foot away.

Satel looked back up as he pushed himself off of the steering wheel, and Negati climbed back onto the seats. "The hell was that?" she asked, and Satel slammed on the horn. He watched the other driver pound on his own steering wheel before looking at the police car. Satel shot daggers at the man he almost hit.

In the other car, Yautja had simply put the car in neutral. He pressed down on the gas pedal repeatedly, not going anywhere. He rolled the driver-side window down and shouted "It's jammed!"

It's not like he could be heard over the two voices that were screaming at him. Looking at the two officers staring through the windshield and shouting in a cacophony, Yautja opened his door and banged it against the front of Satel's car. He did that multiple times, showing that he couldn't get out.

Negati sighed. "Satel, can you let me out? I'll go deal with this. And to think I was already pissed enough before..."

"Sure," said the driver, pressing a button and unlocking the back left door. Negati grabbed the handle and looked one more time at the overwhelmed boy sitting next to her.

"You," she said, "Don't do a thing. Don't move, don't speak, just sit there, alright? I'll be right back." She turned the handle and went to open it, but froze at what she saw approaching her.

Bathory sped along the street, coming as fast as he could up to the side of the police car. "Aphelion, set up," he yelled, and the emission ports began to glow. As all of them readied to shoot, he screamed "Orion Burst!"

Just like when he used that attack on the highway, Aphelion shot several homing shots out that flew out in every direction before homing back in on the car. It's not like the stopped car was escaping, but the shots would still all add to the impact. Still a few blocks away from the car, Bathory launched himself into the air and began to flip forwards. He landed on his feet, sliding down the road, rapidly approaching the group.

Negati watched the small shots begin homing back in on the car. "Satel," she shouted, "back up now! It's an ambush!"

In a small amount of time, several things happened. First, Bathory shouted "Fire!" and a large beam of green energy shot out of Aphelion at the car. Satel threw the police car in reverse, and slammed his foot down on the pedal. The car started going backwards, but it didn't start early enough to avoid the blast. The large beam and the other shots hit the side of the police car right in the middle, launching it into the air along the street Yautja came from and flipping it over. As the attack ended and the car began to skid on its roof along the road, Bathory came to a halt himself, ending right next to Yautja's car.

Everything was dead quiet as the parties involved recovered. Finally, it was Yautja who picked his jaw up off the floor. "Hoooooooleeeeeeeeeey shit" he said, getting out of his car.

Bathory stumbled over to the overturned vehicle, the sirens playing an experimental tune as they slowly died. The mage fell forwards, bracing himself against the near side of the car. He felt completely drained and would have welcomed a rest, but he had to make sure his attack worked. "Arci? Arci, you there?" he asked. Thankfully, despite all that happened, the voice he wanted to hear began to speak.

"Yeah, I'm here. Can you help me out?"

Bathory saw the boy's arm reaching out of the broken window, and the winded mage pulled Arci out. He got up, incredibly shaken from all that had happened to him. "What about them?" he asked.

"Who?"

"The other two. The officers." As Arci finished, the sound of a body moving over glass could be heard on the other side of the car. Following that, they both heard Negati quietly speaking.

"Satel...please...can you hear me...hey Satel, please respond."

Yautja, Arci and Bathory went around the car and found the two Lieutenants together, one of them collapsed in the wreckage and the other one lying down outside, holding on to the first person. On her back, Negati slowly looked up at the three people who gathered around her.

"You just won't quit, will you?" she asked. As she began to slip into unconsciousness, she pointed at Arci. Though she sounded hostile, there was a bit of fear behind her words. "When I wake up...you're mine, got that? M...mine..." Her arm dropped and her body was still. Only the slight rise and fall of her chest would tell someone that she was still alive.

"Wh...what about the other one?" Arci asked, and Bathory slowly knelt down. Holding Satel as best he could, he dragged the other Lieutenant out and laid him down next to Negati. He had taken a little bit more of the impact, and though his barrier jacket prevented him from horrible injury, he had gone straight to an unconscious state from the effects of Bathory's attack and the crash. Lying next to each other, the two Lieutenants almost looked like a couple who chose to sleep on the hard ground.

Bathory relaxed, leaned against the car again, and closed his eyes. "Textbook. Absolutely perfect. Thanks, Yautja."

"Yeah," said Arci. He looked at Yautja, obviously fearful. "Thanks so much. I...I'm sorry. I swear I'll never do anything like that again."

Yautja looked at the woman who had been giving him so much trouble. She lied there defenseless, and he saw that he had the perfect opportunity. "Oh, it's alright, Murder. This wasn't in vain at all." He reached for the knife in his pocket and went to deal the killing blow. From the way Yautja had said that, however, Bathory knew what he was about to do.

"No!" he shouted, lunging forward and grabbing onto Yautja's arm. For the second time, he and Yautja were locked in a struggle. "You and that damn knife," Bathory said, putting all his remaining strength into saving Negati.

"She's right there," said Yautja back. Both men were gritting their teeth. "Why can't I?"

"I told you. Killing her will only make everything worse. This city will become a police state."

"Ten minutes ago you would have let her die. What the hell do you want to do?"

Bathory quickly looked down at the unconscious woman. In the state she was in, and with the directness of Yautja's method of choice, the act seemed so much more wrong than what Arci had tried to do. "Just...just NO!" he yelled, winning the struggle and shoving Yautja back. Annoyed, Yautja just put the knife back in his pocket.

"Whatever," he muttered, heading back to his car. "We got the kid back. Job well done."

Bathory walked after him. "Yautja, wait. We can't just leave Arci with the limiter on."

Yautja turned around and stomped back towards the overturned car. "Okay, so what do we do? What do we do with...wait a second..." Intrigued, Yautja approached the kid. "What did you just say his name was? Arci?"

The boy gulped and answered that. "Yes. My real name's Arci. Not lying this time."

"Arci." Yautja rolled the name around in his head a few more times. "Arci, Arci, Arci. I knew it," he said playfully, elbowing the boy in the side. "I knew all along that Murder wasn't your real name."

"Alright, focus" said Bathory. "Once again, the limiter that Arci has on is also a beacon, in case he ever escapes. Like now. We need to get that off of him."

"And once again," said Yautja, "why? He did this to himself; why do I need to tag along?"

"Because I am going to help him," said Bathory, slowly confronting Yautja. "And no matter what you do - even if you head back to your car and drive right back home, I'm staying with him. And once again, he knows everything about you, so you probably don't want him getting a full interrogation."

Yautja looked over at Arci, and his stare of extreme annoyance slowly turned into resignation. "Alright. Alright, I'll save this kid. What first?"

Bathory started coming up with a plan. "We need to activate the AMF device and keep it by us. It won't unlock the limiter, but it will jam the beacon inside it. As for actually removing it from his leg, we can't do it ourselves - it's got several different mechanisms for security. There's a keypad combination on it that we don't know, plus it needs voice and thumbprint recognition from a higher-ranking TSAB officer - probably a Lieutenant or above, I'd say."

The three pairs of eyes all drifted down towards the two unconscious bodies. Finally, Yautja asked "which one do we take?"

"Both" said Bathory.

"Really?" asked Yautja.

"Yes. Trust me on this. I've got a plan. As horrible as it is, and as much as I feel sorry for what we're about to do, I think I know how to get our way."


	10. Arbitrators

The first thing Satel felt was his head. It was pounding horribly - so much so that he had to grimace and moan. He opened his eyes, but he was still quite out of it, and everything around him was masked in a thick blur. His actions seemed have caught the attention of some people, however, and at least one of them sounded very familiar.

"...Took long enough. Seriously, I thought you killed him."

"Alright. How much more do we have?"

"Uhh, two more. Will that work?"

"It should. Here, give me one of them."

"Hey guys, what happens if he won't unlock it?" That was the voice that Satel knew he'd heard. Of course, his mind the way it was, he wasn't having much luck placing it. His vision cleared a little bit, and he saw the bottom half of three silhouettes standing around in front of him. One of them walked forward, and his voice got louder.

"Then we'll improvise. Simple as that." The blurry figure's legs got closer and closer to Satel, and that's when he realized he was sitting on the ground. Eventually the person stopped, and the legs bent down, giving way to a body and head. The mysterious man held his fingers in front of Satel's face and snapped repeatedly. "Hellooooo?" the voice asked. "Are you there?"

The snaps increased in energy as Satel continued to sit there, dealing more with his headache than what was going on in front of him. Soon, the hand started slapping him, and it was when Satel tried pushing the man away that he realized the situation. In one sobering moment, it all came to him. Below him was the floor, behind him was a beam, and behind that were his hands, bound by something that dug way too tightly into his wrists.

Remaining calm, Satel tried not to let his sudden surge of worry come through, even as a second man walked around behind him. "I'll get him up," the voice said, and Satel felt his upper arms being grabbed and pulled upwards. Fastened together at his wrists, his arms seared with pain as they hit the limit of their upward motion. Satel had to cry out, and quickly tried to get to his feet to lessen the pressure. Once he did that, though, the man holding his arms up kept going, forcing the Lieutenant to bend over more and more in compliance. As he hit his new limit, the man behind him pulled them up a little higher and tied the wrist tie off to something that was higher up the beam. The entire time that happened, Satel had been loudly vocal. Now that it was done, his arms still burned, but at least it was constant. He took deep breaths through his teeth and looked up, realizing that even if he craned his neck, he could only see the bottom half of the face of the man that stood before him.

"Great," said Satel defiantly. Still, the extreme discomfort could be heard in his breaths. "You got me. Now what the hell do you want?"

Yautja held his arm back, silently telling the third person to come over to him. The short mage walked over and Satel knew why one of the voices was so familiar. Arci came over and Yautja introduced him to their captive.

"Now, you might recognize this boy. Apparently, you know him pretty well."

Satel looked at the boy, whose face he could at least see, and then looked back at Yautja. "And who are you, then? His boss? Did you put the hit on Negati? Because no way did that kid plan that on his own."

"Whoa whoa," said Yautja, "You're making so many assumptions. We're here for one simple request. You put the limiter on this kid's leg, right?"

Arci lifted up his leg, revealing the device in all its glory. He lowered it again and Yautja continued speaking. "We just want you to take it back off. Nothing else. Do that, and we'll let you go."

From what Satel could feel, his wrists were wound in some kind of thin, scratchy cord. He tried to summon a ball of energy that could maybe cut the ropes, and received his second sobering moment as he found concentrating on forming it pretty much impossible. Every time he tried, a strange, unexplainable feeling of almost-sickness would wash through him. From experience, he knew he was in a strong AMF field, and finally saw the device resting on the ground on the opposite side of the room. But those didn't last forever, he knew, and he had done some training in withstanding pain. Not nearly as much as an Enforcer or other agent would do, but it was still expected on Siba that if you could dish out pain, you also had to know how to take it. So he steeled himself for whatever torture he was in for.

"No. I'm not going to do it. He's not going to get away with what he tried to do."

"Ohhh, you're just as brave as the other one" said Yautja. He pushed Arci back to where the boy was originally, and gave himself some room to work with. He backed up a bit and then charged forwards, slamming his knee into Satel's stomach. This of course elicited another painful grunt from the Lieutenant.

"The other one?" he asked. "You got Negati too? Where is she? I want to see her. And where did you take us?"

In response to that last question, Yautja slowly spun around, holding his arms out as if to say 'look for yourself'. Satel did, and the results didn't answer much. All four walls of the room were grey and unpainted, the floor was basic and industrial, and the room seemed to just have an assortment of pipes running everywhere with a single closed door on one of the walls. It could have been any generic back room in any generic factory or warehouse.

"Fine. Whatever," he retorted. "If you have Negati, I want to see her. You assholes better not have hurt her."

Playing up his control and his power over Satel, Yautja slowly headed towards him. "Why would I ever give you what you want? Again, you're going to give me what I want." As he got up so close that Satel could only look at Yautja's chest, he brought his knee up and slammed it back into Satel repeatedly. Each time he did so, Satel's cries became a little more primal. Yautja backed off, and Satel felt like the wind was knocked out of him, but he pushed on through anyways.

"Is that it? You just gonna do that over and over? I can take it. Your little friend has no chance."

Yautja sighed. The contingency plan was now in effect. "Well, in that case, it's time to move on. You want to see Negati? Alright then, I'll get her. Just going to warn you though - she woke up long before you, and we spent a long time on her." Yautja smiled, and left the room. He kept the door open, and Satel could hear him opening another one further down the hall. There were distant footsteps, some faint muttering, and then a muffled female voice could be heard yelling.

"Negati?" asked Satel quietly. When he knew it was her, he shouted out for her to hear. "Negati, can you hear me? I'm with you. It's going to be okay." In response, noise could be heard outside the door. It sounded like one set of footsteps and something being dragged. The answer was revealed when Yautja entered the room again and threw Negati to the ground. Not only was she much more battered than Satel was, but her feet were also tied and another piece of cord was wrapped around her waist and her arms behind her, pinning them to her body. Worst of all was that some dirty cloth that Yautja found had been stuffed into her mouth and was held tightly in there by one final piece of rope. On the floor, she looked up at Satel, breathing heavily through her nose. She said something, but no one could tell if it was her best attempt at 'Satel' or if if was something else.

Despite how she looked, Satel was relieved. "Negati," he said, trying to comfort her, "I'm here. I'm fine. You're fine. It'll be okay, I swear. Just hold out a little bit longer."

"Oh, just shut up!" said Yautja, kneeing Satel once again. As he got his breath back, Yautja walked back to Negati and forced her up. "See, I like you better now that you can't speak" he said. Dragging her along, Yautja ignored her incomprehensible protests and forced her to kneel in front of Satel. The way he was bent, Satel was looking directly down at his fellow Lieutenant. Watching her be pushed around, he felt himself getting angry.

"Hey," he yelled, "Get your hands off of her."

"Oh, what," said Yautja, mocking him back. "Is this hard to watch?"

Satel began to actually struggle to release himself for the first time. Yautja may have been mocking him, but it was true. If Satel and Negati weren't more than friends, they were damn close friends. When Negati looked up at him, dirty, battered, and drooling heavily, Satel wanted nothing more than to slip out of his knots and crash the criminals' skulls against the ground.

"Negati..." he told her, "be strong. They'll fucking pay for this. I promise you."

Negati looked up at her fellow officer, but her gaze slowly moved to the man who was behind him. It was him - the mage on the highway who defeated her squad, and the mage that assisted Ia Zver. Through this unbroken view, Negati realized that she was, in fact, looking at Bathory Kardenis. He was right there, RIGHT THERE, and she could do nothing about it.

"BMMMPHMMMRYYY! BMMMPHMMMRYYY!" she cried, but her speech was so distorted that no one, not even Bathory himself, knew what she was getting at. To everyone else but her, it sounded like the rest of her 'words'. She looked at Satel and tried to tell him about the man behind him. When she only succeeded in drooling more, she tried telepathy, but the AMF field jammed that as well.

"Wow, what made you so talkative?" asked Yautja. "Anyways, Satel, is it? I'm not done here with your friend. If you care about her so much, it must be awful watching me do this." Making sure Satel was watching, he took one last piece of rope, wrapped it around Negati's neck, and pulled both ends tightly. Negati's eyes immediately opened wide and she tried to get loose. She started off looking at her partner, but soon her eyes distilled and she seemed to be looking at nothing, focusing more on her complete inability to breathe.

After a few seconds, Satel spoke, starting to sound worried. "What are you doing? What's going on?" Yautja stayed quiet, and Negati continued to make little noises. Her feet kicked once, and then again, and then repeatedly as her whole body strained to do anything.

Yautja finally addressed Bathory. "Check him," he said. "Make sure he sees this."

Bathory complied and moved up right behind Satel. He put his fingers on Satel's face and pried his eyelids open. He also pressed in on Satel's head, making sure the witness couldn't look away. However, unlike Satel who stood there transfixed, he wanted to look away himself. Yautja almost seemed to take pleasure in doing this, and Arci was simply letting Yautja go along with it. Bathory, however, looked at Negati and imagined a nine year old girl's head in the sand, screaming under him. On that night, Minasa struggled the same way that Negati was now doing - a little bit at first, which increased in tempo until the body's struggles were nothing more that sickening jerks in every which direction.

"If you don't choose to unlock the limiter, I won't let go of this rope," said Yautja. "Her life's in your hands. Think about that."

Looking back into the woman's eyes, Bathory saw a terror that he knew from experience could only come from the thought that she was about to die. To her, time probably seemed like each second stretched into hours. When he saw her like that, the room they were in seemed to disappear along with everyone else - Yautja, Negati, Arci, and Satel - and was replaced by the burned in photograph of when Bathory had felt the exact same thing. It was the night of the raid on the Grand Meridian hotel. He was in the basement along with his team, and the barrel of a live-ammo weapon was pointed straight at him. He was staring down a bullet, aimed at his heart, that had not yet been fired. Next to him were Kaisa and Arin, both fearing for their own lives. But Bathory's fear was more immediate - he would be the first one. And behind the weapon, holding his finger on the trigger, ready to systematically pick each member of Breach Team 03 off, was Captain Marcus Shuftan.

An almost inhuman gargle from Negati brought Bathory back, and he knew that her time left was now down to seconds. Unable to let his fellow officer die, Satel finally relented.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Just let her go, please."

Yautja relaxed the rope and Negati took the deepest breath she had ever taken. However, Yautja leaned down and took his knife back out. Holding it to her throat, he looked at Satel. "I'm letting her live, but I'm not letting her go yet. I need to make sure that you keep your end of the deal."

"I will. I promise I will."

Yautja motioned to Bathory to let the man down, and Bathory did so. He untied the rope forcing Satel's arms up into the air, and then cautiously untied the rope around his wrists. Arci walked over and stood in front of the beam. When Satel was free, he took another look at Negati. Her gaze had returned to normal, and she looked at him, thankful. Satel knelt down and got to work on the limiter. A panel on the side of the limiter showed a numerical keypad, and he entered a long code into it. After that was done, the keypad disappeared, and Satel held his thumb to the panel. After a couple seconds, the limiter beeped, and Satel gave the final override.

"First Lieutenant Satel Moraine," he said. "Authorize unlock."

The limiter beeped one last time, and Arci felt it disengage from his leg. He winced as Satel pulled it off of him before dropping it to the ground. Satel looked at Yautja, still threatening Negati. "There. I did it. Can you let us go?"

"Congratulations," Yautja answered back. "Now can you sit back against the beam?"

"What? Why?"

Yautja brought the knife closer to Negati's neck. "Do it. Don't ask anything else."

Resigned, Satel complied. He sat down and scooted back against the beam. He even brought his hands back around the beam himself as Bathory went to tied them together again. Bathory tied it snugly, but much less painfully than Yautja had done. After Satel was secured, Yautja brought Negati over to another stationary pipe and used the cord he'd wrapped around her neck to simply tie her to it. All in all, he just wanted to make sure that they couldn't free themselves. Yautja rubbed Negati's head back and forth, causing her to shy away from him.

"Alright, and we're done here" he said. "See. That wasn't so bad." He turned to leave when Arci picked up the AMF generator.

"Wait," the boy said. "Should we take this with us?"

"Nah, I don't think it can be recharged. It was a one-time use type of thing."

He set it back down and he and Yautja waited for Bathory, who had stayed remarkably quiet throughout the whole ordeal. He seemed to be transfixed on the limiter lying on the ground. Finally, he knelt down, picked it up, and went to put in on Satel's leg.

"Whoa," said Satel, trying to back up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm activating the beacon," replied Bathory, "for your own good. You don't know where you are. If the TSAB tries to find you, it could take a while, and I don't want you two sitting here for days." Satel cautiously let Bathory attach the beacon onto his leg and lock it. He winced as well, feeling what Arci had felt.

Bathory stood up. "Soon as the AMF field goes away, the beacon will restart and the bureau will be coming for you."

Satel and Negati looked at each other, both confused. "Umm, thanks" the Lieutenant responded.

Now Bathory was ready to leave, and the trio of criminals left. Satel breathed a sigh of relief.

"Negati, it's done. We're safe now."

Again, Negati tried to tell Satel about the high-profile criminal that was in the same room as them. However, again, she could not produce anything that was near legibility.

"It's alright. I know that was scary, but we're alive. And I swear, next time, we'll bring all three of them to justice."

Negati groaned. She had so much to say as soon as she could speak again.

* * *

Though they hadn't taken the two officers deep into the facility, Yautja, Bathory and Arci still at least put them in a secluded room. After leaving for the entrance and walking through a hallway, they came out into the large storage room of the warehouse where Bathory fought Orthrus for the gauss staff. They left through the open hangar door and exited the warehouse, standing in the parking lot. It was at this point when Yautja slapped Arci hard across the back of the head.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Arci, turning around. "What was that for?"

"What did I say? That whatever you came up with wouldn't work?"

"Yautja," said Bathory, "We didn't know it wouldn't work. I didn't even know that Negati was anticipating us - how could Arci possibly guess that?"

"Why do you even go with this kid's shit?" asked Yautja, turning his attention. "That's what I don't get. Why do you just go along with it?"

"Because what he proposed was at least better than sitting around doing nothing."

"No, it was worse than doing nothing! It almost ended terribly. If Arci was arrested, the two of us would be screwed."

"Okay, quit telling me that like you're the one who figured it out. I had to get you off of your couch, because at first you didn't care about what happened to him."

The three of them formed a triangle in the parking lot. Yautja pointed his finger at Arci. "Alright, you. What did you tell them?"

"Nothing. I promise I didn't say anything about you two."

"You sure? I'd really, really like to know if you did. If so, I'm walking right back in there and cutting both their throats."

"Yautja," said Bathory, "trust him. Arci held out."

"And why should I?" asked Yautja, confronting the other man. "Why do you even trust him? Hell, why do you keep siding with this kid?"

"Why do you hate him so much?" asked Bathory, retaliating. "Once again, I didn't know it wouldn't work, he didn't know it wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot."

"No, it really wasn't." Yautja turned and shoved Arci backwards. "From now on, just keep your damn mouth shut and do as I tell you to." Yautja heard the sound of a weapon transforming, and he looked back at Bathory to see him holding his right arm out, Aphelion encasing it. It was pointed right at Yautja.

"Alright, I'm getting really sick of you treating him like complete shit. You think he just goes out and does reckless things without telling you; well maybe that's because YOU won't give HIM a chance. You have no reason to be mad at him. He's not 'Murder' anymore, okay? He's not someone trying to be cool and failing. He's Arci, alright, and he can think for himself. I think you two need to just start over - act right now like you're meeting for the first time."

Now Yautja's face lowered, and he gazed at Bathory through very serious eyes. He walked slowly over to the mage, pushing right up into Bathory's face. "Are you really threatening me again? I'm the one that allows you to stay in this city. I give you work, I give you payment, and most importantly, I keep your identity secret. Do you know how often I've thought of just turning you in and getting a nice compensation for my troubles? And every single time, I decide to spare you. You do not have ANY grounds to threaten me on." As he got right up next to the other mage, he smacked Bathory's device aside. Bathory responded by backing up, re-aiming Aphelion, and firing a shot at Yautja. Without any real magic abilities, Yautja took the blast fully and stumbled backwards, grunting from the pain.

"I know why you don't turn me in" said Bathory, making his own verbal assault. His anger was compounded by the strain on his body from all he had done tonight. "Don't act like I'm so dependent on you, because you need me even more. Before I came here, what were you doing? Almost nothing. Only the safest and smallest of deals possible because you knew that nothing was there to protect you if something went wrong. Soon as I arrived, that all changed. I admit; I need you to keep me hidden. It's a relationship I've had with many people since I had to run. But think of what I've done for you. You have done so many things knowing that I'll be around to save your weak pathetic ass. You don't want me gone because then who will you have? If anything, you do more poorly planned stuff than Arci, because I'm your safety net - your escape card - the person who you depend on-"

Arci ran in between the two. "Guys, stop this!" he held his arms out at Yautja and Bathory. "Ma...maybe you two need to start over."

Yautja rolled his eyes and was about to lay back into the boy when Bathory cleared his throat. Aphelion was still pointed forwards and its master was ready, if necessary, to shut Yautja up again. All three of them stood there in the uneasy standoff until Bathory lowered his arm and Aphelion went back into standby.

"Maybe Arci is right," he said. "Let's pretend this never happened."

"Sure," Yautja replied. "Sure. We're fine. We didn't argue. I need you on my side anyways for the deal we're doing."

"Yeah, about that, when is it?"

"Two days."

"Two days?" asked Bathory. "And I still don't know anything about it?"

Yautja closed his mouth and continued the conversation in his head. "_Tomorrow. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."_

_"And what about Arci?" _Bathory asked. "_Is he coming along?"_

_"Ehh, I don't know. I don't think I want him to."_

_"Are you leaving him out because of your grudge, or is there a real reason?"_

_"No, no, this is real. He's not very powerful - this is probably way too much for him."_

Arci looked back and forth between the two as they had been looking at each other quietly for at least ten seconds. "Guys? What's going on?"

_"I think he should come along. He really wants to prove himself to you."_

_"I don't think it would be worth the risk. Like you said, I set this up knowing a Double-A was backing me."_

_"Surely you can find something for him to do - even if you keep him out of the thick of things."_

_"Alright. Alright, alright, alright. He can come. But I won't tell him all the details like I will you. Only as much as I think he should know."_

"Guuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyys seriously," Arci continued after waiting in silence even longer. "I know you're talking to each other. What's going on?"

_"Fair enough. You keep making that happen, and Arci and I will just stay out of trouble."_

_"Okay. Again, tomorrow, I'll have everything set up."_

"GUYS! COME ON!" yelled Arci. "You just said that I should be more involved."

Bathory finally looked over at the boy. "You're right. Yautja and I had some small things we had to take care of."

"Okay. Because I was also wondering..." Arci looked over at Yautja. "When do you think the AMF field will run out? Bathory put the beacon back on, if you remember."

"Yeah, I do" said Yautja. He checked his watch. "Let's see...I activated it about 11:35, so it should be running out...about..." All three mages froze when they heard police sirens approaching their position. Yautja looked at the other two and laughed. "...about now," he finished.

All three of them broke off and ran in separate directions. Yautja rushed back to his car and drove off the property before the police got near it while Bathory and Arci both fled rapidly in their own directions, also getting away from the scene a short few moments before the first set of cars sped up to the building. Knowing the beacon's exact coordinates, a flurry of officers rushed into the warehouse and headed towards the back rooms.

* * *

May 31st, 0076  
Siba Capital  
5:15 PM

Fate rushed through the hallways to General Parkensine's office. She was looking a little disheveled since she didn't have much time to get ready, but Parkensine had, in fact, ordered her to meet him 'A.S.A.P'. Anyone who was even casual acquaintances with Fate knew that she preferred not to waste any time at all, and so she surprised even Parkensine with how quickly she had gotten from her hotel room to his office.

"Enforcer Harlaown, reporting."

Parkensine stood in front of his desk and waited for Fate as she surveyed the room. On the wall by the door, the projected screen was active, and Fate walked over by Parkensine to see who it was. On the other end of the call was Negati, sitting up on a hospital bed, legs dangling over the side of it.

"Negati!" Fate shouted, not surprised by who she was talking with but what condition the woman was in. Negati was out of her brown uniform, down to her undershirt, and a thick blanket had been wrapped around her. Her arms protruded from the ends of it, and Fate noticed deep red marks on the Lieutenant's wrists and neck.

"Hi Fate, it's...it's me," she said weakly. "I wanted to call you first, but once word got out about this, they had me go straight to the General." She coughed several times, trying to hold them in and shutting her eyes. Fate could tell she was in pain.

"Negati...what happened to you?"

"Hold on, first things first," said Parkensine. "Let's get to the actual reason you called."

"Okay," Negati said, looking straight at Fate. "Bathory is in Victamius. I know it. One hundred percent."

"You sure?" questioned Parkensine.

"I'm sure. I got a good look at his face. I heard his voice. I was in the same room as him. I can get someone else who can attest to what I'm saying if you want me to."

"Very well," said Fate. "I'll arrange transportation to Victamius immediately and I'll be there tomorrow."

"Hold on a minute," said Parkensine. The General slowly walked forward. You were in the same room as him? You were there with him? AND YOU DIDN'T CAPTURE HIM?"

Negati defended herself. "Sir, I couldn't get him. It was...unfortunate circumstances."

"Lieutenant, that's three times now that you've let him get away. Three times that Bathory could have been brought in within the last week alone! I'm starting to severely doubt your abilities."

"With all due respect, sir, last night, I simply couldn't arrest him. I couldn't."

"Well, you better have a damn good reason, or I might be putting in a demotion request."

Negati gripped the blanket tightly and shook. She'd been trying to keep the events of her and Satel's captivity out, but Parkensine was forcing it to come back to her. And being cursed at and yelled at didn't help; though she didn't dare say it, she thought her subhuman treatment would be over with when her fellow officers swarmed the warehouse, closing in on the beacon only to end up frustratedly relieved at what they found.

Thankfully, Fate stepped in. "Sir," she said, bringing Parkensine's focus back to the Enforcer. "It doesn't matter what happened. I know Bathory's location now. I promise you that he will be apprehended soon."

Parkensine sighed deeply. "Fine. Fine, you're right." He looked back at the screen and returned to being somewhat cordial. "Lieutenant, does Bathory know that he's been found out?"

The woman shook her head. "I don't think so. At least he didn't act like he knew."

"Good. We've finally got him caught like that. Continue as usual please - do not alert the public at all to what you know. Keep him thinking he's still under the radar. And also, keep up the pressure within the city - it seems to have done some good. Enforcer Harlaown and I will be meeting face to face with you shortly. Goodbye."

He ended the transmission and stood there in silence for a bit. Smiling, he chuckled softly. "I've got you now, you little shit. We both knew you couldn't hold out forever."

Intrigued by what the General said a bit earlier, Fate approached him. "Sir? Are you traveling to Victamius too?"

Parkensine turned around and nodded. "Indeed. I'm going with you."

"But sir, you don't need to do that. I can fight and apprehend him on my own."

"No, no, it's not about backing you up." The General's voice lowered even more, and so did his eyebrows. He became focused, determined, and completely serious. "I want to see him myself. I want to drag him against the ground, under my boots, just once. Just so he can truly see how much he took from me. I need to be there, believe me Enforcer."

"Very well, General. Just remember that according to Midchildan TSAB law, once Bathory is in custody, he is to remain unharmed so that he can more quickly begin and serve his provided sentence."

Parkensine shot back. "I know how the rules go. Now pack anything you left in your hotel room and meet me back here in two hours. I'll get a charter flight to Victamius. We'll be staying there until the mission is over, if it all goes as it should. You are dismissed."

* * *

**A/N: **Surprisingly little to say atm...I guess for chapter notes, well, I'm a bit sick of normal "Mwahahah I have kidnapped you because I am dastardly" scenes so this was also a nice event to try and make 'more real-sounding'. Anyways, the lead up has begun, Fate is closing in, and things will never. EVER. BE. THE SAME. AGAIN? The countdown has begun!


	11. Beyond The Veil

**A/N: **Ok first of all I swear I'm not kidding, a couple nights before putting this up, I dreamt that someone drew fanart of this story. I'm officially off the deep end now, aren't I?

Second: Just thanks again if you're supporting this. I know, again, it's 95% original stuff, and I know that's not really super popular around here, and as the word count increases, it might seem like I'm trying too hard, but again, it's a story I'd been thinking about for way too long and I just wanted to do it. So if you enjoy it, I'm glad you like it.

* * *

June 1st, 0076  
Victamius  
1:00 PM

Bathory knew it was time to spend some time thinking about what he actually wanted. Last night, he had done something that was potentially worse than transporting an unwilling unison device; he had used his experiences as an officer to effectively become a torturer. Putting one prisoner's life in the hands of another had been his idea, of which Yautja fleshed out so brutally. At the start of his fugitive career, even the most minor illegal acts and bureau altercations left Bathory with a nasty feeling, but he was able to brush those aside and tell himself he was doing what he had to do. There was absolutely no justification for what he did last night, from what happened at the warehouse to what happened on the streets of the city. He should have turned down Arci's request from the very beginning.

He'd never admit it to Yautja, but he was thankful that the assassination attempt failed. In any other circumstance, Bathory would be backing Negati one hundred percent. Like he said to Arci, he never was able to fully see the TSAB as the enemy. He'd been one for a long time, and he didn't want to cause any lasting injuries. Still, he fought hard because in the back of his mind, he knew he'd die if he was caught. They'd find some way of getting him killed, whether he would 'succumb to his injuries' or 'commit suicide in his cell' or through another way. While the central TSAB technically mandated that all criminals be kept alive, they had a lot of planets that they needed to oversee. Outside of the most high-profile cases, sentencing terms and care to safety was often left up to the planetary governments, hoping they'd follow the rules. Siba was very strict as it was, but factor in the exact details of Bathory's crime and he knew he'd end up 'slipping through' the system.

By now it didn't bother him when he made deliveries and fought off sudden ambushes, but the straws on his back had been steadily increasing. Minasa. Ia Zver. Negati and Satel. Everything was ramping up and he was doing worse and worse things - things that he already hoped he'd never have to do again. He worried that soon, he would end up actually killing someone because they were in his way. Actually committing homicide. Taking the final plunge and truly becoming guilty of what he had apparently done.

Like most tough decisions, coming up with an answer felt like it would take forever. Meeting up with Yautja the next day, Bathory almost felt like he'd created more questions instead. He found Yautja back in the café and once again sat across from him. Yautja was busy with something else and would only look up shortly to speak.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Your eyes are kinda bloodshot."

"Yeah, probably." Bathory hadn't gotten that much sleep.

"Also, your hair's kinda messy."

"That too. What are you getting at?"

Yautja smiled to himself and looked up. "Looks like you had a rough night."

Bathory laughed. "Shut up," he replied, looking away and then back again. "So tell me. Tell me about this amazing, brilliant deal you've struck."

Yautja leaned back in the booth and put his hands behind his head. "_Can we do it like this? I absolutely don't want anyone listening in."_

Bathory looked around and shrugged. "_Sure."_

_ "And you didn't invite Arci, right? He's not going to show up and surprise me?"_

_ "No, I didn't invite him. Come on - let's get going."_

_ "Okay. I was contacted by someone who does high-value smuggling - like, moving things across dimensions, not just cities - and he was looking to offload something here on Siba."_

_ "And who is the buyer? Do we know?"_

Yautja smiled. "_I am. I get to decide where it goes."_

_ "So you're actually buying something this time? Don't you not have the money for something like that? Because that's what you said to me when I last asked for more cartridges."_

_ "He was in a bit of a jam. I got him to drop the price."_

_ "Sure. By the way, I'd like some more cartridges."_

_ "And you know I don't have the money for that."_

Bathory rolled his eyes while Yautja watched him and laughed at his own joke. "_So what are you getting from this guy?"_ Bathory asked.

_ "Well, you're not going to believe this, but it's some off-world artifact. It's, like, hundreds of years old or something."_

That got Bathory's full attention, and he leaned across the table as far as he could, staring in disbelief. "_A Lost Logia? Really? Are you sure?"_

_ "Is that what you call them? I don't know what it's called - I just know what it is."_

Despite using telepathy, which meant that no one else could possibly hear what they were saying, Bathory looked around the room nervously for anyone trying to listen in. "_Yautja, this is big. This is even bigger and more dangerous than you think it is. I really hope you know what you're doing."_

The other man seemed so carefree about what he was taking, as if the object was as basic and simple as a regular device. "_What? I wasn't going to mess with it, just sell it off for more than I bought it for. What could this thing possibly do?"_

Though he never dealt with one himself while on the TSAB, Bathory had it drilled into him from day 1 the importance of subduing and controlling these objects if one ever were to appear on Siba. He tried to remember the examples of some of the worst effects that had happened because of one. He wasn't trying to push Yautja towards declining the offer, but he was trying to get the man to at least understand the dangers.

"_Let's see, what could it do... Oh, it could turn you into a monster. Maybe literal, maybe figuratively, but it could activate itself based on what you do. Or it could house some ancient unknown forces. Something that could just break loose and decima- here, you ever heard of the Book of Darkness incident?"_

Yautja just continued to lean back, relaxed. "_Yeah, I've heard of it. Let's see...when was that? It was a while ago..."_

_ "And do you remember what it did?"_

_ "Umm, kinda...hmm...bad things. Bad things happened, didn't they?"_

_ "Well...yes, yes, bad things happened. Such a brash summation of everything, but yes. Anyways, whatever you get tomorrow could be powerless and no big deal and just an old object, or it could be something evil. Or it could be anywhere in the middle. Do you know what it looks like? Because I really want to know before I touch it."_

_ "No. I told you, I don't know exactly what it is."_

_ "Great. We'll just see how it turns out, I guess. Either way, I should also warn you that if the TSAB knows there's an artifact in the city, they'll be looking for it. Searching every room, overturning every object, patting down every citizen and checking every single nook and cranny of the city. If you have an artifact and keep possession of it rather than turning it over, you are a high profile target. I'm guessing that's why your seller wants if off of him so badly."_

Yautja had been steadily taking in what was being said, and he slowly began to see the severity of it. "_Alright, don't freak me out,"_ he said, already beginning to freak out. "_Again, I'm just going to sell it again. Maybe to a museum." _He tried to lighten the mood for himself._ "Maybe I'll be one of those 'private donors' - think about that, huh. Museums funded by people like me. What if I ran a museum? How weird would that be?"_

Bathory went to rein Yautja back in. "_One more thing I'll say about it. How many people have you told about this?"_

_ "Just you. Well, and Arci, since he's apparently coming along now, but that's it. No one else."_

_ "Good. What are you going to tell him?"_

_ "Like I said, not telling him it's an artifact. Definitely not. Probably just say I'm getting more blacktongue."_

"Fair enough," said Bathory, finally ending the mental conversation. He had another question, but this time he asked it out loud. "Hey, so has anything been on the news about last night?"

"About the kidnapping? Yeah, that was covered."

"Anything mentioned that can tie it back to us?"

"Don't think so. The Lieutenants just said we were anonymous people. They don't know our names or who we really are. Well, Negati did have to say 'Murder Caliente' to the cameras, which was hilarious. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she said it. It was great."

"But otherwise, we got away with it."

"Yeah, far I know."

Bathory put his head down on the table and sighed in relief. Yautja nodded and understood.

"That was too much. That was way too much for me. And of course Efra really wants to talk to 'you' about it."

Bathory looked back up and sighed again. "Right. I'll get started on that. By the way, when is her examination?"

"Five days from now."

"Great. I'm running out of time."

"Oh yeah, I forgot to think about what we should do with regards to 'officer Thanus'. I'll get started."

"Well, this is also spur-of-the-moment, but I thought of something. It's not going to be easy, and it pains me as much as it will her, but I think I'll have to break off."

"Break off?" asked Yautja. "What do you mean?"

"Stop seeing her. Stop coming over to your place completely. I mean, she'll figure out anyways that I was lying when she tries looking for 'officer Thanus' and can't find him."

"No, you really don't need to do that much. Tell her you lied about being an officer, but you...uhh...you're a bodyguard. That's still both interesting and lawful."

"No...here, I'll just tell you. I don't know how long I can keep hiding here. I will be found out some day, and if it happened now, she'd be crushed. Completely devastated. After last night, and after all the extremely lucky things we got away with, I thought some more and yeah, I should break off now."

"Listen, _Bathory_" said Yautja, quickly shooting the other man's name silently across the table. "I don't want to see Efra hurt like that. There are really only two people in her life right now - you and me. She moved here to completely focus on joining the bureau. She's put all her time into practicing and training, and she doesn't really have anyone else. Before she brought you in, she was lonely. Determined - very very determined, but lonely."

Bathory tried to support his own side. "She'll meet new people in the TSAB. They'll be her new friends."

"Yeah, but they won't be you."

It was corny as hell, but it was true. Bathory put his head in his hands. "See, I should never have let it get to this point, but...but...she was the first person since I ran and since Kaisa died that I really..." As soon as he mentioned Kaisa, the sharp memories of their final talk pushed their way through to the forefront. He cringed, but Yautja didn't seem to pick up on that.

"Alright, who's Kaisa?" he asked in his regular almost-brazen tone. "You've mentioned her a few times like you think I know who she is. And I don't."

All the other times Bathory mentioned her, she never became the subject of the conversation. The moments he had spent with her, both good and very bad, would make themselves known again and maybe he'd have to apologize to her once or twice, but it would go away when something new came up. With Yautja finally asking about her, she had time to stay.

Bathory started to tear up in the café, and tried to give as quick an explanation as he could. "She was the best officer I ever knew, and awful things happened to her because of what I did. She was innocent. One hundred percent innocent. And so was Arin, but..." He was having a noticeably harder time speaking, and Yautja backed off.

"Okay, if it's that tough for you, we'll move on."

"Hold on...just...just a moment." Bathory clenched his eyes shut and quit trying to hold back. He embraced their final conversation, because to forget her and to forget that would be to go against everything she had stood for that night.

* * *

.

* * *

February 19th, 0075  
Hallcrest  
11:00 PM

It had only been three weeks since the incident, and Bathory had no plan. He was out of Siba Capital, and that was as far as he'd gotten. When he left, he only had with him what he had during the raid, and officers usually traveled lightly to events like that. From the very start, he had to manage things he'd never had to manage before, and the start of anything is always the hardest part.

Still, there was reason beyond simple survival that pushed him on to search for thrown-out food and sleep in empty canals. He had allies. Any day now, Kaisa and Arin would convince the TSAB that he acted in self-defense. Any day now, he'd get to come back, just a temporary victim of a huge misunderstanding. He had faith in his teammates because they were right there in the same moment when Bathory did it. Who could possibly turn down two witnesses that had such strong proof of innocence? So the fact that neither of them had tried to contact him worried him a bit. Besides, Bathory just missed seeing Kaisa, especially in his current state. If he could talk to her even one more time, it would lift his spirits. On the night three weeks after the incident, as Bathory laid there on the hard floor of the canal staring up at the underside of a bridge, he balanced those thoughts against flashbacks of the disastrous raid. When Aphelion spoke, it caught him completely by surprise.

[**INCOMING CONTACT, MASTER**]

Bathory sat up quickly. "A call? From who? Is it Kaisa?"

[**AFFIRMATIVE - INCOMING DEVICE: PARAGON - OWNER OF DEVICE: KAISA ELLEN**]

"Then answer!" Bathory held the gem in both hands, fumbling as he did so. A screen appeared in front of him and he began saying her name even before the call connected. When it did, Bathory saw what her device was projecting. However, instead of looking at a person, Bathory was looking at the front of the Siba Capital TSAB building, and the entire view was sideways.

"Kaisa!" he continued to shout. "Kaisa, are you there?" The view on screen changed as the girl brought her device up and turned it around. As soon as Bathory saw the face he knew so well, he stopped caring about his current circumstances.

"Kaisa, I'm so glad to see you again. What's going on over there? What's happening?" He was almost overwhelmed with simple joy.

"Ba...Bathory," said Kaisa slowly, and the joy ran from Bathory's face. He had known her for seven years, and they had been together for three. He knew that Kaisa never stuttered. She was always quickly able to say what she wanted to say, and so Bathory immediately knew something was wrong. He also finally noticed her expression and how absolutely expressionless it was. Again, Kaisa always showed at least some of what she was feeling. This wasn't natural.

"Kaisa, what's wrong? Something's wrong, isn't it? If you miss me, just know that I do too and I wait every day to be able to come back..."

"No, it's...it's not...not that." Tears began to well up in Kaisa's eyes, but her voice didn't change from its monotone drone and her blank face stayed the exact same. This was more than out of character for Kaisa - it was almost inhuman. She looked like a robot who couldn't feel emotions.

Bathory felt himself falling into a pit. "What's happened, Kaisa? This isn't how I remember you. What's wrong?"

"They...they changed me. They wanted me...to...to forget."

"I don't understand. What happened to you? What did they do?"

"We refused. We refused, but...they kept trying...ordering us to forget."

"Forget what? The raid? And who's making you forget? Damn it, Kaisa, what's going on over there?"

Kaisa continued to vaguely answer Bathory's questions. "They messed with my brain...my...my mind...they changed it."

Bathory could sense that he was almost being tuned out. "Kaisa, here, do you want to visit me? I can tell you where to go. You can leave and not tell anyone, and we can see each other again. I'm not far. Trust me, I'm not far."

"They began to erase things...trying to get at you, and get you out. But I...I held on...I never forgot..."

Bathory began to scream internally. He was angry at whatever caused this change in his partner, and was scared at what she had become. "This isn't you. This isn't you! Please, I need to see you. Come visit me - I'll tell you where to go. Maybe I can get you back to normal."

Finally, she seemed to directly answer back. "No. I can't get back...I can't get back what was taken away."

"Kaisa, listen to yourself. Listen to what you're saying! Here, I'll turn myself in. I'll get caught and come back just so I can see you one more time. I'll do it. We need each other. I'll do it for you."

"Stay."

The one word answer startled Bathory and he paused. When he did so, Kaisa continued. "Stay and watch. This...this is all I can do now...this is what they caused me to do." She let her hand drop to her side again, and the view from her device showed Kaisa walking up to the TSAB building.

"Kaisa?" Bathory asked worriedly. "What do you mean 'all I can do'? What's going on?" The girl didn't respond, and instead she just kept walking. As she approached the automatic doors, they opened and let her go on into the main entrance. The receptionist at the desk greeted her.

"Welcome, Officer Ellen. Pleasant out there, isn't it?"

In response, Kaisa brought her hand with her device back up. "Paragon, activate" she said, and a blue staff with three mechanized parts at the end that formed the shape of a trident materialized in her hand. She pointed her weapon at the receptionist, and he barely managed to duck the burst that was sent towards him. It slammed into the back wall, and the commotion caused everyone there to look at the source of the attack. Bathory was also staring through the screen.

"Kaisa...what are you doing?"

Instead of answering him, she aimed her device at a group of people that had gathered and wordlessly fired at them. They also dodged and ran screaming away from the attacks. She began to walk across the front room and Bathory's voice radiated from the screen that followed her.

"Kaisa, why are you attacking everyone? Stop! Whatever's going on, this isn't right."

Again, she ignored him as she fired on anyone who was either frozen still or counterattacking. Any officers nearby had responded to the attack, and the main room of the building was torn up in a firefight. Kaisa never bothered to shield, but she didn't seem to be affected at all by the shots that hit her. It was like she didn't even recognize that she'd been hit. Bathory sat there mortified, watching from hundreds of miles away as Kaisa assaulted the building. He had to stop her.

"Paragon!" he yelled to her device. "You need to shut down now!"

[**UNABLE TO PROCESS REQUEST**] it said.

"What? Kaisa, why did you log me out?" Bathory asked. The two had been so close to each other that they allowed their devices to take commands from the other mage in case of an emergency event. Bathory was a bit worried that it didn't immediately recognize his voice, but maybe he just had to re-authorize himself. "Fine. Paragon, I am logging in to emergency activation mode. User: Bathory Kardenis-"

The device stopped him at the mention of his name. [**BATHORY KARDENIS -FUGITIVE CURRENTLY AT LARGE FOR THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN MARCUS SHUFTAN - HE IS TO BE IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT IN IF SEEN - HE IS ARMED AND IS TO BE CONSIDERED A THREAT**]

That obviously wasn't what was supposed to happen. "The fuck!" Bathory finally yelled. "What did they do to your device? Paragon, state your information."

[**I AM INTELLIGENT DEVICE SERIAL NUMBER 29885-7343-8718 VERSION NUMBER 1.2.05 - NAME: PARAGON - DATE OF ACTIVATION: 02/16/0075**]

It had been reset, for one reason or another. But why? What was going on? Bathory couldn't possibly come up with any reasons for what had happened to Kaisa or her device. All he knew was what Kaisa had said - that 'they' tried to make her 'forget'. He was pretty sure she meant the TSAB, but why would they do that, and how did she end up like this? Kaisa made her way to the elevators and called for one. It opened, and she stepped in and turned around. Behind her was a miserable scene of officers and workers caught off guard and lying on the floor. She input a number and the doors closed.

Kaisa hadn't said a single word during the battle, but Bathory tried again, worried sick for her. He wasn't shouting anymore. Instead, he sounded almost defeated. "Kaisa, please, I beg you to stop. Why are you doing this? Is it for me? Because this isn't what I want."

She finally spoke, but once again seemed to ignore what Bathory had said. "They did the same things to Arin as...as they did to me. They couldn't make him forget either...and...and he told them that. Instead, they changed him to hate you. After that, I lied...I acted like they wanted me to...I couldn't imagine being like him."

"Please, just...just tell me what they did. What happened to cause you to become this? And why do you need to retaliate? I told you, you can meet up with me and we can both run away. You can be with me. Isn't that what you want?"

She went back to staying silent, and Bathory quit pleading with her. Whatever was going to happen would play itself out in front of him no matter what he said. He worried about her, though. Not only for what had happened to her, but what would happen to her after this. The elevator stopped, and as the door opened, Bathory watched through Kaisa's device as the room outside was crowded with officers all aiming at her.

"Kaisa," said one of them in the front. "Stop this. Deactivate your device and surrender."

Ignoring him as well, the rampant mage held her weapon forwards as the magic triangle formed under her. As it faded in and began to glow, the officers became a little worried.

"Mass Array," responded Kaisa, and the triangle under her feet glowed even brighter. Magic began to concentrate at the end of her device, and the officers now were noticeably scared. Bathory was frozen himself - this was one of Kaisa's more powerful, room-clearing attacks. She wasn't holding back on any of her fellow officers.

"No...no..." muttered Bathory, unable to avert his eyes. "Kaisa, do not do this. They didn't do anything to you."

She finished charging, and silence filled the air until she gave a single command - "Fire." Then, the attack ripped loudly across the room, proving too much to hold back for many of the officers. Those who held it back were staggered, and Bathory made himself look away from the screen. He couldn't see it, but he could hear everything - Kaisa's attacks, the officers' cries, and soon there were no more sounds of battle. Bathory slowly looked back, and Kaisa was facing the closed door of General Parkensine's office.

"Is...is that who you're after?" asked Bathory. "What did Parkensine do to you? Did he cause this?" As usual, there was no verbal response, but it was answered when Kaisa aimed her weapon at the door and fired. A large cloud of smoke was kicked up by the explosion, and she headed for the now-open doorway. However, out of the smoke came a gold bolt that flew straight at her and speared itself straight through her chest. It came almost too fast to see what happened, but for the first time that night, Kaisa sounded like she was in pain. She dropped to her knees and her arms fell. She remained kneeling but looked up when she heard the sound of approaching feet. General Parkensine stepped out of the smoke, holding his device, shaped almost like an old rifle, in both hands.

"Kaisa...ohh Kaisa, what have we created?" he asked, walking up to her. Though suffering, she found the strength to get to her feet and aim at Parkensine. He saw her do that and sighed. "A threat," he answered. "That's what you are now."

"General!" shouted Bathory from the small screen that was still next to her. "What's going on? Why is she like this?"

Much like Kaisa, Parkensine didn't answer. He held his device's trigger grip in his right hand, and turned it so its front was raised in the air. "Golden Arrow," he said, "load a killing bolt." Like a crossbow, a gold bolt of solid energy formed in a groove on top of the weapon. He brought it back down, supporting it with his left hand further along the base, and aimed it at Kaisa. With a single pull of the trigger, the bolt rocketed forwards, embedding itself into her and then taking her with it as it lodged itself back into the far wall of the room. The rogue mage remained there, pinned against the wall, heavily bleeding out of the hole in her chest. Bathory watched in complete silence as Parkensine headed over to his victim.

"K...Kaisa?" Bathory finally asked. Her only answer was to gurgle as blood entered her throat. She was too weak to move anything, and Paragon dropped to the floor. Bathory's view dropped with it, and he only saw Parkensine's legs walk up to Kaisa and stop there in front of her.

[**ALERT - VITALS ARE BELOW THIRTY PERCENT**] said Paragon, and Parkensine bent down and picked it up. He held it upright so Bathory was looking at Kaisa. Blood ran down her body from the hole, and it continued at an alarming rate. Kaisa only twitched as she inhaled and exhaled her now-labored breaths. Paragon spoke again.

[**VITALS ARE BELOW TWENTY FIVE PERCENT**]

Bathory began to boil over in anger. "Parkensine, you son of a bitch! Why did you do that to her?"

The General spun Paragon around so Bathory was facing him. He smiled. "Bathory, how did I know you'd bear witness to this?"

[**VITALS ARE BELOW TWENTY PERCENT - ALERT, MY MASTER NEEDS IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION**]

"Look, Bathory. Look at what you caused. Your horrifying actions have created another victim. You've damaged the ones you loved most."

[**VITALS ARE BELOW FIFTEEN PERCENT**]

"What I caused?" shouted Bathory across the call. "You're fucking killing her! General, she needs to get to the infirmary. You can't just sit there and... and let her..." Bathory slowly faded out as he understood that Parkensine was intending her to remain there.

[**VITALS ARE BELOW TEN PERCENT - AGAIN, MY MASTER REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE**]

"Just... what did you do to her, General?" Bathory asked. "How did she end up like this?"

"She was destroying herself with grief over your betrayal. She wanted desperately to forget you, and she came to me, begging me to help her."

"Bullshit. She said you forced her and Arin to try and forget me. Why? What's going on? Why would they want to forget me when they know I'm innocent?"

[**ALERT - VITALS ARE AT FIVE PERCENT - SITUATION CRITICAL**]

"Because you're not innocent. You killed Captain Shuftan in cold blood. Looks like your teammates couldn't forgive you."

"No no no no I don't believe that! They would never do this on their own. This is NOT the Kaisa that I knew."

"Well, it's who she became."

Bathory felt Kaisa die before Paragon even mentioned that its master's heart had stopped beating. He clearly remembered the exact moment where he felt her body give out completely. And along with that, Parkensine just stared at Bathory. He stared like he hadn't just callously killed the most important person in Bathory's life. The tears started to run down his face and everything started to blur.

"You motherfucker...how did you...why did you..." He was so overwhelmed that he didn't even hear Aphelion the first time it spoke up.

[**UNKNOWN TRACKING ATTEMPT IN PROGRESS**]

Bathory's eyes continued to well up. He though strongly about finishing what Kaisa had tried to do and killing Parkensine for this. His hands now gripped tightly around his device. Aphelion buzzed the second time it talked, and this time Bathory heard.

[**MASTER, THEY ARE TRIANGULATING YOUR CURRENT POSITION**]

He looked down, sighed, and looked back up. "End call," he said, staring daggers at the General. Parkensine's face disappeared, and it was just Bathory and his device in the dry canal once again.

[**TRACKING ATTEMPT REPELLED - THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO FIND YOUR POSITION**]

He sat there for a long time. His only movement was the shaking of his arms as he still felt intense hate towards the General. Finally, Bathory gave an order.

"Aphelion, delete all uplink programs between you and the TSAB, or between you and other devices. Quit recording, quit keeping device logs, and make sure no other device can contact you."

[**MASTER, THAT IS NOT RECOMMENDED - THOSE FUNCTIONS RUN DEEP INTO MY PROGRAMMING - REMOVING THEM IS A COMPLICATED COURSE OF ACTION**]

"I don't care," he said, violently shaking. "Do it. I order you to."

[**UNDERSTOOD - BEGINNING DELETION NOW**]

Bathory felt his anger continue growing and he made himself stand up. He understood for the first time that he was alone. Parkensine wanted him dead, and what the General wants, the General gets. Even if it meant doing whatever he did to make Kaisa act like that, he had gotten rid of Bathory's only allies. Also for the first time, Bathory knew his life was now on a timer. He was going to be hunted down, overwhelmed, and killed because of what someone else was convinced he did.

[**ALL PROGRAMS SUCCESSFULLY DELETED - I AM NOW CONNECTED ONLY TO YOU**]

He didn't deserve this, and Kaisa simply didn't deserve that. The image of her pinned to the wall and helpless couldn't be gotten rid of. She died defending him. She died because she didn't want to forget him. But Parkensine was right; she had died because of him.

This was the first night Aphelion had to snap its master out of this self-hating cycle. [**MASTER**] it said, [**THIS WAS NOT YOUR FAULT - I REQUEST THAT YOU NOT THINK THAT**]

"Shut up, Aphelion" he answered back. He did not want anything to bother him, especially not from his device. Couldn't it tell that he didn't want to talk? Apparently it didn't.

[**MASTER, YOU CAN NOT DWELL ON WHAT YOU CANNOT CHANGE - YOU MUST FOCUS ON THE CURRENT ISSUE OF SURVIVAL**]

Bathory brought the green gen up in front of him and screamed at it. "Give me one fucking second, okay Aphelion? What the fuck do you know about losing someone like I just did? You have no grounds to tell me anything!" He angrily unwound the cord around his arm and threw the gem further down the canal. It sailed through the air and skipped several times along the ground before coming to a stop. He looked on, but something began to change inside him. His anger turned to sadness, and realized exactly what he'd done.

Bathory walked over to the device and stood over it. Both of them kept silent, and with a heavy heart, Bathory picked his device back up. He held it in his hand and looked at it.

"Aphelion, respond" he said and waited. Seconds went by, and the device didn't say anything. Bathory knew his device had every right to act how it was. "Aphelion," he finally continued, "you're right. I can't think stuff like that. It'll just cause me to fall apart even more. It was just so much right there that...I don't know, it all seems hopeless right now. I'm sorry I treated you like that." He waited, hoping that would console the device, but understood fully if it couldn't think of him the same now.

[**YOU HAVE NEVER RAISED YOUR VOICE LIKE THAT TO ME BEFORE**]

Bathory shrugged, knowing he had no excuse. "I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen again. From now on, I'll listen to you if I start feeling like that. Are we okay now? Do you trust me again?"

[**I WILL STAY WITH YOU, MY MASTER - I WILL SERVE YOU FOR AS LONG AS I CAN**]

* * *

.

* * *

Yautja waited impatiently as Bathory needed more time than 'just a moment'. He reached over, grabbed a couple napkins, and handed them to the crying man. "Alright, you done soon?"

Bathory took a deep breath and tried to keep his mind in the present. "Yeah...I'm done..."

"Good, because Efra's almost here."

Bathory perked up. "Efra? Really?" He looked out the window and sure enough, Yautja's sister was walking up to the front door of the café.

Yautja answered the question that hadn't been asked. "I felt bad for running off on her last night, so we're gonna do some family bonding today."

"And you're getting me involved?" Bathory was now definitely trying to make it look like he hadn't just been crying.

"Only for this. But she did want to see you."

Efra entered the building and headed over to the table. She waved her hand when she greeted her brother, but shouted Bathory's 'name' in joy when she saw him. She quickened her pace and sat down next to Bathory, scooting right up next to him. Her brother immediately seemed to fade from existence.

"Thanus! So glad you could join. Haven't seen you in a while - how is everything?"

Bathory remember what he said about her before he got to talking about Kaisa. However, his sudden meeting with Efra threw him for a loop. "Everything's...good..." he finally said.

"Good to hear. I thought you'd be on patrol now. You know, after last night, the bureau seems to be on high alert."

"Well, it's...uhh...my day off." He smiled stupidly at Yautja, who shrugged back at him.

Efra turned to completely face Bathory, almost sitting sideways in the booth. "I was following the story all night...those poor Lieutenants..."

"Tragic, wasn't it?"

"I know. Were you there? Were you one of the officers who found them?"

Bathory had been caught so much off guard that he just defaulted back to being 'officer Thanus'. "Yeah, after the two seemed to disappear, we all went out and searched the city for them. We were all hoping and praying, but I didn't really know what to think. When we got the report that the beacon went back on, we all sped over to it. I wasn't the first to find them, but I was there. And when they both came out and didn't look too bad, you know, we were all relieved."

"Still, poor Negati. She survives an assassination only to get kidnapped later that night. It's amazing how strong she is, though. She's already back out in the city trying to find the ones who did it."

"Yeah," said Bathory, looking right at Yautja. All of his next words were delivered across the table. "She's an amazing officer. She's tough and strong and deserves better than that."

Yautja shook his head, annoyed. "_What was that for?" _he fired back mentally. "_Why are you on her side now?_" The two locked eyes and stared each other down as they conversed.

"_I think we acted too quickly. We don't need her to die."_

_ "Bathory, you don't deal with half the stuff I have to deal with. She is ruining me. She might not be much of a problem for you right now, but eventually, you will wish she was dead."_

_ "Hey, remember what we said last night? No fighting, alright? Let's stick together until tomorrow."_

_ "Then don't throw passive-aggressive shit my way and expect me to just take it. By the way, Efra's asking you why you're not answering."_

Bathory focused again and finally heard Efra. "Thaaaaaaanuuuuuuus, what are you doing?" she asked, resorting to pulling at his shirt.

He looked back at her. "Nothing now. Sorry."

"By the way," she said, again scooting right up next to him. "I got my exam scheduled. Wanna know when it is?"

"Five days."

Efra looked over at her brother. "You told him?" she asked, sounding playfully angry. Yautja gave another one of his shrugs, and Efra moved on. "I've been practicing every single hour of every single day to get ready."

"And do you think you are?" Bathory asked. Again, he genuinely hoped that she'd be successful.

"Yeah," she said, but she sounded a bit apprehensive. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I've been using Yautja as my practice dummy, and it's hard seeing the effect of healing spells when your subject's already perfectly fine."

Bathory smiled. "I could help out with that. I could break my arm right now if you want me to." He grabbed his right arm and positioned it to where he actually could have if he tried to.

"No, no, don't do that," said Efra, reaching over to stop him. She knew he wasn't serious, and was laughing as she did so.

Yautja continued to sit there across the table like a mediator. He was perfectly fine with what was going on, since if Efra was happy, he was happy. He waited patiently as the two went back and forth for another ten or fifteen minutes. Finally, Efra had gotten through everything she wanted to say, and the Crawmers got up to go do their own activities. Bathory remained seated. Efra asked him if he wanted to come along, but he declined. As soon as Efra turned her back on him, his façade dropped, and after she and Yautja left, Bathory rested his head face-down on the table. If he had been trying to get rid of his alter ego, then he did a horrible job of it. He had five days to figure out a contingency plan, but he still went back and forth between severing completely or not and trying to deal with what she'd learn. He went between the two repeatedly, an answer seemingly out of his reach.

* * *

2:30 PM

Negati waited inside the lobby of the central Victamius TSAB office. She watched through the windows for the escort of Enforcer Harlaown and General Parkensine to arrive. The latter didn't faze her as much as the former did; it had been an honor to work under someone as well-known as Fate, and for the two of them to meet face to face...

"Hey," said the man watching along with her. "You're shaking." Though Negati's face looked like she was all business, she gave her excitement away in other areas.

"No I'm not," she shot back.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not Satel, I'm perfectly fine."

Satel crossed his arms and teased her again. "Fine. You're not shaking. You're quivering."

Negati spun on her feet to retort. "Okay, I know this isn't a big deal to you, but it is to me. Enforcer Harlaown is here IN THIS CITY, coming TO THIS BUILDING to talk to ME. Name any other Enforcer that comes to mind before she does."

Her fellow Lieutenant quickly had an answer. "Let's see, there's Inle, who I still talk to whenever he comes back here. That's not often though."

"Okay, Satel, a person you graduated with doesn't count. What I'm getting at is that Fate could be off doing any mission on any planet and working with any officer, but she's here, like, RIGHT HERE, and I'll be briefing her."

"Right here?" asked Satel. He smirked and put his hand above his eyes like a visor as he scanned the lobby. "I don't know about that. You sure?"

Negati smacked him. "You know what I mean," she said. She held her arm out so it was pointing towards the front entrance of the building. "She's right here in the city. And she will be arriving here any-"

She looked at where she was pointing and froze as the escort had arrived. She watched Fate step out of one of the cars as Parkensine got out of another. After a little bit of conversation, they both headed towards the building. Satel looked over at his fellow Lieutenant, smirked again, and shook his head. "Now you're definitely shaking," he said, heading out. Negati checked herself over one more time, revealing again the dark red lines on her wrists. Self-consciously, she pulled on her sleeves to cover her wrists and pulled her uniform up at the neck. When Fate entered the building, Negati didn't so much salute as slam the side of her hand into her face.

"First Lieutenant Winter at your service, Enforcer."

Fate walked over to her. "Glad to meet you in person, Negati. I hope you're doing well." Negati smiled for a brief moment before again adjusting her uniform's wrist cuffs and neck collar.

"Alright, Lieutenant," said Parkensine as he took charge. "So we can pretty much assume Bathory is in the city. And that's great, but now we need to act. We need to know where he'll be at any time in the future, lest we go on aimlessly. So do you have anything for us, Lieutenant? Anything that we can cut him off at?"

"Yes, I do," Negati replied. "We have received word of a large exchange taking place tomorrow within the city. It seems to have attracted the attention of several factions so far. Though we can't know for sure, I believe Bathory may be at that event." She said all that to answer Parkensine's questions, but she mainly looked at Fate while she did so. When the two made eye contact, Negati became a bit star struck, and she'd freely admit that her voice got a bit caught in her throat by the end there.

Fate nodded. "I will be there tomorrow to intercept Bathory if he arrives."

"And even if he's not," added Parkensine, "that event sounds like it's a honeypot. It could make quite a dent on the underground if all attendees were taken off the streets. And considering what this city's apparently going through, it needs a bit of a culling like that. I'll make some calls and see if I could get some extra units for this job." He finished by dismissing them before turning around and heading off to do what he needed to do. That left Negati and Fate together, and the Lieutenant had no idea what to say. Thankfully, Fate wasn't so frozen.

"Thank you for assisting me, Negati. You have had quite a busy week here, haven't you?"

"Yeah, yeah. More eventful than normal, at least..." Negati retreated a little, not sure if she really wanted to ask Fate the question that was in her mind. She ended up just forming it into a possible offer. "You know Fate, if you feel like you need to practice all your...your moves and stuff for tomorrow, I can reserve our combat simulation room. It's not anything like Cranagan's, but...but it could do...and if you wanted to, I could...help out." What Negati of course wanted was to see Fate in action, gracefully cutting through the mobs of simulations like no one else across all of space could do. And what Negati really REALLY wanted was to battle against Fate, one-on-one in a fight to the death. Well, obviously not that far, but still. There would be a certain satisfaction in being able to go directly against someone of Fate's caliber, no matter what the outcome would be.

Negati certainly wasn't the first fan to ask for that. Fate smiled but turned her down. "I may consider practicing a few smaller things, but I wouldn't want to battle you. I want us both to be fully ready for tomorrow."

"Right, right," said Negati, laughing the rejection off. "I just wanted to see how everything looked...in person...but I'll just have to wait a bit, won't I?" She trailed off as she thought of what else she wanted to ask the Enforcer. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that she might not get again once Fate's mission was completed. She decided on her first question.

"Fate?"

"Yes?"

"What is it like on Midchilda? I really really want to go there."

Fate laughed a bit. She wasn't putting Negati's question down - it was just that Minasa had also asked the exact same thing, and Fate had the same answer to give.

"Well, it's nice, warm, and sunny most of the time, at least in Cranagan..."

* * *

_These words that we sung by heart  
were the lives that we lived.  
these songs on long night drives  
is the ink in our skin.  
I carry these words in my heart  
so it's not empty anymore.  
they sink to the bottom  
like a treasure I buried_

Arktika - Diorama


	12. Killing An Ace Part 1

**A/N**: What? Oh, that chapter title? I'd do it. I'd go hardcore. Gonna have to set that genre to TRAGEDY after this. :D

Serious: This is a pretty battle-heavy chapter and I just hope I got all of Fate's attacks and stuff right. I wrote this with one eye on the word document and one eye on her page on the Nanoha wiki. Thanks Nanoha wiki! I wasn't feeling up to marathoning the shows again just for this.

Also, again there's a certain song/band I'd like to recommend for this chapter. There's a band I really like called Examination Of The who put out some long, awesome songs, and one of them pretty much fits this chapter to a tee. Same sort of structure, a long build up to action that doesn't stop for the rest of it. The song is called "Ressurecting The Stones" and it can be found on their album "The Whitest Of Elephants". It's kind of rare however and isn't even on youtube. They don't even have a bandcamp page, but the album is on bandcamp under the record label's page, so go to amplifieddin dot bandcamp dot com/album/the-whitest-of-elephants-tour-press to get there. I know this sentence seems very hollow, but it really has to be heard to be experienced.

* * *

June 2nd, 0076  
9:45 PM

Downtown in an older part of Victamius was a complex of abandoned buildings all enclosed by a tall fence. It was one of those complexes that hadn't been used in years but still managed to avoid being demolished. Curious trespassers and shady entrepreneurs were, nowadays, the place's only customers, and it was set to be the location of choice for an old artifact to trade hands. Waiting in anticipation, Yautja and Arci surveyed the property from afar. The older man just wanted to wait in silence for the signal to enter, but the boy next to him was making things awkward.

"Hey, Yautja? Are we cool now?"

"Uhhh, sure."

"Alright. I still owe you...and Bathory...for saving me. I promise I'll do my very best."

"Okay, I get it."

"I will! Watch me. I'll be a formidable opponent for anyone that stands in our way."

"I don't think anyone will, Arci." Yautja's eyes were about to roll into the back of his head, and he really hoped Bathory would show up soon.

The boy paused for a long while. Just when Yautja had gotten used to silence, Arci spoke up again. "Hey Yautja? Could I be your third in command?"

Yautja felt a nerve snap somewhere in his brain. 'Arci, please shut up' he thought but didn't say. He was supposed to be friendly to the boy, but it was more of a forced and enforced friendship. On the inside, he still thought that 'Murder' had overstayed his welcome when his incompetence began threatening Yautja's career. "Sure," he finally snarked. "Sure you can. It's really only us three left anyways." With Arci content, Yautja waited for the signal to move in. Before that happened, Bathory arrived and took position next to the other two.

Yautja reached into a bag he had brought and pulled out a tightly-wrapped pack of cartridges. "Hey," he said as he handed them over, "here you go."

"Wow," said Bathory. He held the pack in one hand and began to open it up. When he made a hole, he pulled out one of the shells and examined it. Along the top were the words Bathory was once again hoping to see - "TSAB Standard Military-Grade cartridge - Authorized for enlisted personnel only."

"Yup," Yautja answered. "Eight of them. Don't even ask how much it was worth, but, you know, I got a bit paranoid. If you're gonna save my ass, you're gonna do a great job during it. I'm taking all precautions."

Arci gazed on with stars in his eyes. He rushed in front of Bathory and turned to face him. "Can I have some?" he almost pleaded.

Bathory and Yautja slowly looked over at each other. Yautja obviously didn't want that, but even Bathory seemed a bit apprehensive.

"Arci, I'd rather Bathory get all of them," said Yautja. "Do you remember on the highway when he made that big attack? That's what he can do with a cartridge. He could do eight amazing things with those eight cartridges." He hoped that he'd convinced Arci why he shouldn't get any, but Bathory surprised him by pulling a second cartridge out of the pack and handing both to the boy.

"Thanks!" shouted Arci, snatching them up. While he did that and looked them over, Yautja stood there in disbelief that Bathory was wasting what he had been given.

"Now, Arci," said Bathory, "do you know about cartridges? Do you know how to use them?"

The boy nodded. "I've only used a few training shells...never got ones like these before."

"Alright. Just make sure you really want to use them when you do use them. Your power will be magnified tremendously, and I just want to make sure you're ready for that."

Arci tuned out around the time he heard 'tremendously'. His eyes shot up to look back at Bathory. "How much? How powerful will I be?"

"Well, let's just say... if you and I fought, and you had cartridges while I didn't, I admit - I'd be a bit scared."

Yautja had to laugh at that. Bathory wouldn't be defeated, or even be in peril. He'd just worry a little more as he continued trouncing the boy. Recovering, Yautja noticed a man leaving the complex of buildings and climbing back over the fence. When he landed, he looked to the left and right, then flashed a couple small colored lights in sequence: white, white, white, red, red, white.

It was time to begin. Yautja tapped Bathory on the shoulder and began walking towards the complex. "Come on" he said, and the other two followed after him over to the fence. Yautja went to climb it when he saw that part of the fence had been cut and could be bent back like a door. The three of them used that to enter the grounds and head for the building that housed the artifact. Entering through the unlocked doors and closing them behind him, Yautja stopped and held Arci back.

"Okay, Bathory. It's all you. Go get 'em."

The other man stopped, turned around, and sighed. "And what are you two going to do?"

Yautja wrapped his arm around Arci and pulled him in. "We're going to...uhh...guard the door."

Bathory sighed again and looked at Yautja. "_What, in case I summon some destructive force from this artifact?"_

_"Uhhhhhh...precisely?"_

The combatant mage sighed a third time, but continued on further into the building. "Alright. I'll be back in a bit." Again, as he walked through empty hallways, he readied Aphelion and checked every room for an ambush. He was slowing down, taking more and more time to check corners and push up further into the building. Not knowing exactly what was waiting for him was scary. He was a former TSAB officer - he had been in almost every situation possible and at least knew how to act for the others. Heading blindly towards an unknown Lost Logia was perhaps the one exception to the rule. Eventually, he came out onto the main floor and saw it - or rather, he saw something that was wrapped in other material. Steeling himself, he walked over, bent down, and grabbed the object. He shook as he pulled back the material, revealing an unmarked box inside of it. Like pulling back layers of pure tension, Bathory slowly opened the box to reveal a red gem with a serial number engraved on the inside of the box. It was a relic.

Bathory shut the box again and tried to calm himself down. He breathed a small sigh of relief that it was 'only' a relic. "Don't activate it, and nothing will happen" he said to himself, and paused a little longer. "Now how much should I tell Yautja? I can see him doing something dumb if he knows, but if he doesn't know..."

[**AUTO GUARD**] said Aphelion, and a shield formed to Bathory's left just in time to stop a large burst of energy from hitting him. The mage turned and went to initialize Aphelion when he saw the person who attacked him and froze. There were actually two people, and they looked very familiar. Shia and Raven were once again trying to take something from him.

Shia looked incredulously at Bathory. "You!" he said. "I'm actually surprised we haven't met again sooner."

Bathory finished his device's transformation and aimed it at the two. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"Simple. I'm getting what I paid for. Now, why you're stealing it from me - that's the question here."

"Stealing it?" shouted Bathory. "You're the ones who are coming in here trying to- wait a second..." It felt like something was about to dawn on him.

"Here. You hand it over, and I won't tell anyone that we caught you."

"Nonono, shut up, hold on" said Bathory. "If my group knows that we bought this, and if your group knows you bought this, then..."

The conversation was interrupted by another person entering from Bathory's right. "Hey!" he yelled. "Give me my artifact."

"YOURS?" shouted Shia as Raven looked at everyone else, confused. "Your artifact? The fuck is going on here?" He gave a quick glance at his familiar, who nodded and began an attack. This time, Bathory saw it coming, and immediately blasted Raven before he could do anything. When he did this, both Shia and the unknown mage fired back at Bathory, and he started backing out the way he came, holding his shield up against the attacks. Through it, he saw a fourth group enter from the one remaining side of the room, and they started yelling about how he was stealing their artifact as well. Shia turned to fire at the new group, and the battle turned back into a three-way fight as everyone forgot about Bathory. He took this opportunity to turn and run, and he sprinted down the halls back to Yautja and Arci.

"_Bathory?" _asked Yautja. "_I hear a bunch of stuff going on. What's wrong?"_

_"I got to the relic, but so did a bunch of other people. Are you sure you didn't tell anyone else about this?"_

_"Trust me, I didn't. It was just you. Well, and Arci. Do you know what group they're with?"_

_"Seems like a bunch of different factions that all expected to get the relic."_

_"The fuck? How did this even happen?"_

_"I don't know. Maybe your seller notified a bunch of groups - sold it multiple times and took payments for every one of them."_

_"Clever of him...but you have it, right? You got out with it?"_

_"Yeah, I got it. I'll be there soon." _Bathory ran through the halls with the sound of magic attacks slowly fading as he got away from the other groups. Unlike his group of three people, some of the other groups probably brought much more to ensure their success. He would rather not have to fight all those people tonight. After some more running, he met back up with Yautja and Acri. The older man seemed very determined to see what his catch was.

"Alright, let me see it." Yautja held his hand out and Bathory went to give it over, but he stopped himself. He still wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let Yautja hold it. Finally, he put the small box in his own pocket.

"I think I'm going to hold onto it for now - at least until we all get out of here."

"Great," said Arci. He headed for the exit while the two men talked.

"What? Give it to me. Come on, this isn't like with that one device. This is mine."

"I know, but just like with Ia, I don't really want anyone messing with this."

"So it's a relic, you say? Do you know what it does?"

"Well, I'd rather explain to you first before you touch it."

Their conversation was interrupted when Arci opened the door of the building to see a line of TSAB officers all prepared to fire through the doors. "Uhh, guys?" he said alarmed, and the two men turned to see what was wrong. When Bathory saw it, he sprinted at the boy.

"Arci, get back!" he yelled. As the barricade fired on the boy, Bathory put up another shield in front of Arci to block everything. He grabbed the boy, pulled him back inside the building, and shut the doors again, blocking them. Arci's heart raced in his chest.

"Shit," said Yautja. "What was that?"

"Standard raiding procedure" said the ex-officer. "The TSAB knows. They know somehow, and they're here as well now. They've got the whole area locked down."

The other man let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn..." he mumbled. "Is there any way out of this? I mean, you did these, right? You know how they go. How do you escape one?"

Bathory looked at Yautja and took a deep breath while shrugging. He let out a nervous laugh when he answered. "You don't."

"Come on, there has to be a way."

"If they all did their jobs right, there's no easy way out."

Yautja's head sank in defeat. "Greeeeeat..."

Of the three of them, it ended up being Arci that pushed them along. "Alright, well let's get going. We'll find another exit. I'll make sure we get out." He started running off, and the other two followed him.

* * *

Outside the parameter, Fate and the two Lieutenants stood in front of a group of officers. Surveying the battlefield, Negati looked over at Satel and formulated her plan. "Satel, if your team's ready, we can start the second phase."

"We're all set. Just tell me when."

"Well, umm, I need to see with...with Enforcer Harlaown over here..." she stammered, looking to her other side. She didn't feel quite comfortable ordering around an Ace.

Fate nodded. "I'll move in after the Lieutenant's attack."

"Alright, very well. Satel, go ahead."

The male Lieutenant turned around and faced his team. "Aerial Suppressive Team, move out and take position" he barked. A chorus of affirmations answered back, and Satel's team took off into the air above the complex. Back on the ground, Negati got on her radio.

"All ground officers, pull back temporarily. We're gonna soften this place up a bit."

The four officers moved to the four corners and readied a group attack. Four mages with four nearly-identical staffs pointed them down at the complex. Four magic circles appeared, and four balls of energy began to form and grow out of the front of the devices.

Down below, Bathory and his group ran through the halls, looking for a side exit. They found one, and the three of them barged through the door at once, setting foot outside. They slowed down and looked around them for any resistance as they ran over to another building. However, Bathory noticed the light from one of the aerial mages, and looked quickly up at the sky. When he saw four lights in the corners, he knew what was coming. "Keep running!" he yelled as he pushed his two partners along, trying to get to safety. Above them, the aerial team synchronized.

"AST 1 ready."

"AST 2 ready."

"AST 3 ready."

"AST 4 ready."

"Alright, team," said Satel. "Fire."

The four of them repeated the command and sent their attacks down onto the complex. The beams landed and then cut swaths across the place, and of course, one of them was heading straight for Bathory's group. As it came towards them, the three reached another building and dove inside. Bringing up the rear, Bathory was lightly singed by the magic he had barely avoided.

"What the hell?" yelled Yautja loudly. Over the sound of the attack, he had to shout at the top of his lungs to be heard.

"I know," replied Bathory. "They're gonna raze this place to the ground to get it back. Believe me - nothing less." Still needing to find an escape route, the three got to their feet again and continued running into the hallways of the second building.

As the aerial attack finished up, Satel smirked. "Pretty good, don't you think?" he asked his fellow Lieutenant.

Negati looked over and only gave a light smile as she brought her radio back up. "All ground officers, you are free to go back in. Give em hell." When she finished, she looked to her left in anticipation.

Fate looked back and held Bardiche in her hand. "Thank you for your services, Lieutenants. I'm heading in now." She ran forward and held her device up, taking off into the air. "Bardiche, Assault form. Barrier jacket impulse form" she yelled. She glowed brightly and had her armor and weapon ready as she flew down through a broken skylight into the building closest to her. Soaring down, Fate landed on her feet in the middle of a battle between several outnumbered officers and a crew of attackers.

"Plasma Lancer" she said. Eight bolts of yellow energy appeared in a ring around her, and both sides of the fight momentarily stopped to look on at the new arrival. As Fate looked back and forth between the group in front of her, the bolts also followed her gaze and readjusted their current targets. Finally, she broke the silence when she said "Fire" and the bolts homed in on eight different people, slamming into them and passing through any defenses that were put up. Following up quickly, the Enforcer rushed towards the remaining mages. "Bardiche," she yelled as she did so, "Haken form."

[**YES SIR**]

The head of her device spun back, and two yellow scythes protruded from the new openings. One brave soul stepped forwards to meet Fate, and she responded by twirling the scythe and bringing it down on the criminal. He put up a barrier, but it buckled from the first impact and was completely ripped through by Fate's follow up slashes. When he was taken down, Fate dove at another person to catch him off guard and went to work breaking through his defenses. The rest of the remaining group focused their attacks on her but could never hit the Enforcer. She weaved through them while still pounding down her aggressors like she had eyes in the back of her head - almost like she'd done this for years.

The officers she helped out were staring forwards, mouths agape until their squad leader shook them out of it. "Put the pressure on" he yelled. "Back her up!" They resumed firing at the group as they now caught the criminals off guard, and with the attackers already in trouble going against Fate, the resumed fire of the officers ended the battle quickly. Soon, the opposite side of the room was filled with multiple people groveling at the feet of the Enforcer. Once again, it was a sight to behold for the officers, but just a normal occurrence for Fate. The low-grade stolen devices that those attackers called weapons were almost nothing going against her.

"Alright, push up" she yelled, turning to rush further into the facility to find her target. In between her and the door, however, was a very worried man named Shia.

"Uhhhhhhh..." he droned on. The sight of his subdued army in from of him caused him to slowly back away, but Fate again seemed to just fly forwards and grabbed him by the shirt collar. He cringed as she lifted him up, spun around, and tossed him into the middle of the room. Shia hit the ground but seemed to bounce right back onto his feet. He looked back and forth between the approaching officers and the blonde-haired Enforcer. Fidgeting, he screamed.

"Raven!"

Once again, the familiar dove down from above in a surprise attack, and once again, it didn't work. Fate waited until the perfect time and spun around at the last moment before Raven would have hit her. She caught him in her free arm and directed him down at the ground so that he slammed into the floor hard. With a bit of momentum, he slid over by where his master was. Struggling to get up, he faltered several times, so Shia quickly reached down and pulled Raven up to his feet. Shia moved them so they were standing back to back, with him facing the officers and his recovering familiar facing the Enforcer.

"You two! You can't win this" shouted the leader of the officers. "Quit resisting."

In response, Shia put up a shield in front of him. "Come on, try us!" Raven also formed his own shield, protecting the two from both sides. "Try us!" yelled Shia as he kept going. "Go ahead, do something."

Fate answered the call, holding Bardiche in both hands and winding him up. "Haken Saber" she yelled as she swung her device and released a circular blade of energy. It cut out to the right of Fate and then glided back in like a boomerang into the gap between Raven's and Shia's shields. As it got in, Fate yelled "Saber blast!" and the blade detonated, tossing the pair sideways over to the other wall of the room. Again, Shia recovered first and noticed that the two of them were by another hallway that led out of the room. In a selfless act, he grabbed the arm of his damaged familiar and pushed him into the hall.

"Master, what's going on?" asked Raven.

"Go!" responded Shia. "Find the artifact. I'll hold 'em back." Fate watched past Shia as the familiar started to run before diving forward and transforming. The bird soared off, and Fate looked back at its defiant owner, standing in the way. Sweat poured down his face, getting into his eyes as he met Fate's gaze. "Come on!" he yelled again. "Come and get me!"

Fate held her device up so it faced straight at Shia and introduced herself. "Enforcer Harlaown" she said. "For your sake, I ask you to please stand down and let yourself go peacefully."

Shia wiped his face and balled his fists. Slowly, he gave his response. "Hell no...I'm not going just like that!" He charged Fate, screaming as he did so. Again, Fate waited as he got closer, standing still until it almost seemed like Shia's attacks would connect. And again, in that last little bit, she moved forwards, ducking and slamming the top of one of Bardiche's blades into Shia's stomach. Electricity shot into the man and surged through him, and when Fate pulled back, Shia collapsed in front of her. He twitched lightly as the officers ran up to Fate, putting the aggressor in bindings as they did so.

"Thanks, Enforcer" said the squad leader as he picked up Shia. Since Shia couldn't even think to stand, he had to be dragged along into custody. While that happened, Fate heard Negati's voice coming through her earpiece.

"Fate, we lost sight of the artifact. I know you need to find Bathory, but could you assist us in recovering it? We really don't want to let something like that get through us."

"Understood. Bathory might also be nearby trying to recover it as well."

"Right, good point. We haven't let anyone get out of the complex, so we know it's still in there - we just don't know where."

Fate looked down the hallway that Raven had used to escape. "I'll begin my search now" she said. Leaving the building she was in to the officers and their backup, Fate took off and flew after Raven. He had gotten far ahead of her, but he'd at least lead her somewhere.

Across the complex, Bathory ran with the artifact still in his pocket. Yautja and Arci followed him and they kept thinking things through.

"Yautja," asked Bathory, "do you have any associates here tonight? Anyone we can partner with? I don't like the idea of the three of us versus everyone."

"Nope. Not really sure about that."

"Really? No one who thinks 'hey, Yautja helped me out, I'll help him out'? We're on our own?"

"Well, we've got the artifact. That should count for something, whatever it is."

"An artifact?" said Arci. "I thought we were getting more blacktongue."

Yautja immediately cringed. "We...are?" he said meekly.

"No you're not! You're lying!" Arci stopped running and stared forwards, feeling completely dejected. "Why would you do that? I thought you two could trust me."

The other two halted as well. "Arci, we don't have time for this" shouted Yautja. "Come on, move it!"

Again in contrast to the other man, Bathory walked back and reached for the box. "Arci, we lied because what we're actually carrying is much more than that." He held the black box in his hand and slowly opened it to show the boy what was inside. "I didn't want you becoming overwhelmed."

Arci gazed in awe at the red jewel. He reached for it, but Bathory closed the lid before the boy's hand could get it. "Sorry, can't let you touch it," continued Bathory. "That's off limits for you - and for Yautja...and even me, really. Do you understand now?"

The boy nodded. "So what is it? What does it do? Can you tell me?" he asked, and Bathory smiled. Arci was back to his usual inquisitive self. However, the moment was broken by the sound of footsteps running up from behind them. Bathory looked up and Arci turned around to see another group of officers approaching.

"Alright, back to running" said Yautja, and between orders to stay where they were and shots fired their way, the three of them headed off again. As they did, one of the officers stopped and got on his radio.

"Lieutenant, I have spotted the artifact in the north-west building. There's a group of three, and one of them has it."

Outside the parameter, Negati received the message. "Thanks, I'll pass it on" she said and turned to Satel. "Artifact's in the north-west building. Think your crew could help out?"

Satel nodded. "Aerial Suppressive Team, the artifact has been spotted in building four, I repeat, building four. If it enters the open, then go pound down on it, okay?" A wave of "affirmative" and "yes sir" came through his earpiece in response.

Running quickly through the halls, Bathory and his group busted open a door to find themselves back outside. They ran into the middle of the complex as the sounds of magic attacks echoed out from all sides and they tried to quickly form the next part of their escape plan.

"Alright, where do we go? What now?" asked Arci.

"At this point, I think we need to hole out somewhere" said Bathory. "Wait and let every else fight it out, then make our move."

Up above, two of the aerial mages were getting into position.

"Artifact spotted. Beginning to charge a shot" said AST 1.

"I see them as well" said AST 3 as she flew next to her teammate. "Mind if I join you?"

The other mage grinned. "Go ahead." They hovered next from each other, with the group on the ground below them. As they charged their attacks, the balls of magic grew bigger again, and this time it was Yautja that noticed them.

"Uhhhhh guys, speaking of moving..."

The other two looked up and gazed at the lights. Taking control, Bathory grabbed the other two. "Get down!" he yelled, and the other two ducked. Quickly, Bathory reached into his pocket for one of the cartridges as the aerial mages finished charging and fired down at them. "Aphelion, load cartridge" he said as he shoved it in his device, and with only moments to spare, he held his device up at the oncoming beams. "Multiple Defenser!" he cried.

Several green triangles appeared in front of him, each getting smaller as they went further away from Bathory. The massive attack hit the first shield and fought with it for a second before breaking through to the next one. As it did so, Bathory gritted his teeth and leaned back a bit. The onslaught kept coming, and soon it broke through the second shield and moved onto the next. As it got closer and closer to Bathory, he seemed to be pushed back further into the ground until eventually the blast came up against his final shield and he had fallen back, supporting himself off the ground with his left arm. Even with the cartridge, he was working to the best of his abilities to hold back the combined attack, but it just wasn't enough. The last bit of the attack broke his shields and crashed into the three mages. It exploded, sending them scattering across the ground.

As Bathory finished sliding, his device ejected the spent cartridge. He went to get up and was sped along by continuing fire from somewhere else. Looking for the first bit of cover, he dove into it and spent a couple seconds regrouping himself.

"_Bathory, where did you go?" _asked Yautja. This caused the mage to look around and realize that he was alone.

"_I don't know. Where'd you go?"_

_ "I got to safety. Can't really say more than that."_

_ "Is Arci with you?"_

_ "No. I was gonna ask you the same thing."_

"Shit..." muttered Bathory out loud. He initiated a three-way conversation so all of them could hear each other. "_Arci, it seems we all got separated. Where are you?"_

The boy quickly responded. "_I'm...uhh...I'm...inside?"_

_ "Great"_ said Yautja. "_Let's regroup and just try to get out of here. Do we still have the relic?"_

_ "Yeah, yeah, I think so" _said Bathory as he went to check. He reached in his pocket, but it wasn't in there. Worriedly, he searched all over, checking the ground around him, but it wasn't there either. Panicked, he contacted the other two. "_Guys, I don't have it. Do either of you?"_

_ "Nope_" said Yautja. "_Never even touched it."_

_ "Me neither" _said Arci.

Bathory paused. "_Then that must mean..." _he said as he looked out from cover. "_...I let go of it. And it's somewhere out there right now."_

_ "You kidding me?" _asked Yautja. "_You were supposed to keep it by you."_

_ "I had to hold off that attack! I must've just lost track of it."_

_ "Wait, guys, I see it" _yelled Arci. He had looked back at where he ran from, and in front of him laid the box with the relic inside.

"_Great!"_ shouted Yautja. "_Go get it. You don't need our permission."_

_ "Sure thing." _Arci stepped out of cover, positively beaming as he headed over to the box. However, when he was only a few steps away from it, a black bird swept in from the side. It picked the box up in its talons and flew off as quickly as it flew in. Arci looked after it, staring in disbelief. "_Uhhhhhhh, guys, there's a problem..." _he said in the group chat.

"_What is it?_" asked Yautja.

"..._some bird just took it."_

From his hiding spot, Yautja shut his eyes and banged his head against the wall in frustration. "_Great. You let something just come in and steal my prized possession."_

"_Arci,_" said Bathory, "_follow it and try to get the artifact back. I'll try to get back around to wherever you are and help out. Yautja, you just wait somewhere until Arci and I are free again, then we'll get you and leave. Sounds good?"_

The other two agreed, and Arci went chasing after the bird. Though the boy was far behind the bird when he left, he ran after the trail anyways. Dodging through the erratic attacks coming from the battles around him, he eventually got around down to the south-west building and saw the bird hopelessly trying to escape the premises. Each time it tried, in bounced against an invisible barrier that was over the fence. It seemed to cry out as it did this over and over - flying into the blockade, being knocked back, and doing it again.

"Hey," the boy yelled, "give that back."

Raven heard this, and flew back to the ground in front of Arci. He transformed, and only then could the fear in his eyes be seen. "No! It's our artifact, not yours. You're not going to take it from me."

"Our?" asked Arci. "Like, you and me?"

"No" cried Raven again. "It's...my master and I's..." In trying to communicate with Shia, he knew that Shia had been caught. If he could get out of here with the artifact, perhaps there was something he could do for his master.

Watching Raven falter, Arci was hit with an idea. "Hey," he asked, "why don't we stick together. You and I don't need to fight each other."

Raven shook his head back and forth wildly. "No no no no no! You just want to take it from me."

"No, I...well..."

Up above them, Fate hovered in the air. She found it quite lucky that the one lead she had to follow just so happened to bring her to the artifact. "Negati," she said into her earpiece, "I've got confirmation on the artifact. No sign of Bathory though."

"You can...well, you can do whatever you want to do, Fate. I know you got this."

"I'll secure the artifact now. Keep up the perimeter as you have been, and I'll try to find Bathory after I get this." Setting her sights on the artifact, Fate summoned a magic circle in front of her. "Plasma Barret" she said, and a single yellow bolt formed right in front of her. She fired it, and it flew down at one angle only to arc around and come straight for Raven. With him still arguing with Arci, he didn't see it coming and was slammed by the bolt, sending powerful electricity through his body. Arci first looked on in surprise, but some of the electricity arced through the air into Arci, locking him up as well. The boy fell to his knees and his elbows.

It took Arci a couple seconds, but he regained control. Looking back up, he saw that Raven had it much worse and was lying on the ground - his only movement was a few short spasms from his muscles. Raven had released the artifact, though, and it was on the ground. Arci got up and ran over to pick it up, but as he did so, Fate landed where he had once been standing.

"By order of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, I command you to hand that over immediately."

Arci spun back around. Gripping the box holding the relic in one hand, he nervously held his device out in the other. "Wh...who...did you..."

In response, Fate held Bardiche forwards at the boy. "Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown of the Midchildan branch, rank S plus. I strongly advise you to hand it over."

Arci immediately asked for assistance. "_Bathory,_" he said to his cohort, wherever he was. "_I need a bit of help right now."_

A couple seconds later, he heard a response. "_I'm listening - what's going on?"_

_ "I have the artifact, but there's an Enforcer trying to take it."_

_ "An Enforcer? Holy shit..." _Wherever he was, Bathory's heart beat a little faster for a second. He knew Arci couldn't take the Enforcer alone. "_Ok, I'm coming over. Do you know where you are?_"

Arci looked around, and through the fence behind him, he could see a large building with its name shown on the front. _"I'm by the Parrow Brothers Real Estate building," _he said.

"Excuse me," shouted Fate. "Did you hear what I just said?" She started to walk over to Arci, which cause the boy to start backing away slowly.

"_Understood,"_ said Bathory. "_I'll find it and I'll be over there soon. Hold your ground until then."_

Annoyed slightly by the boy's silence, Fate's voice lowered to sound almost menacing. "If you're not going to come along, I'll have to take it from you. Do you understand? I'm giving you one last chance."

Arci felt like he should say something, but he didn't know what. "I...you...I...I'm..." he stammered before panicking and going for the attack. He put the box between his body and his right arm as his left arm dug around for one of the cartridges to jam into his device. After he did so, he aimed Advanced Carbine back at Fate and quickly shouted "uh...cartridge shoot!"

A regular purple blast shout out of his device at Fate, and Fate put up a regular shield, expecting to simply take it. With the power of the cartridge, it hit her a bit harder than she was expecting and she stumbled back a bit. Seeing this, Arci smiled and went to put the other cartridge in his device. He raised it again, yelled "cartridge shoot" again, and sent another blast at the Enforcer. Fate knew what to expect, but it still impacted on her shield with a lot of force. Beaming, Arci went to load another cartridge only to grab at something that wasn't there. As his hand reached around in his pocket, his face changed expressions from excited to terrified.

Angered, Fate didn't even respond. No more words from her; the boy had clearly stated that Fate would need to use force. She advanced on him quickly, holding her left arm back as she ran. "Plasma Arm!" she yelled, and a ball of electric energy formed around her left fist. With nowhere to go, Arci just cowered and put up a barrier that he somehow knew would be useless. Fate closed the gap and made the strike, bringing her arm up to bring it down onto Arci. In the middle of her swing, however, Bathory flew head-first into her side from out of nowhere and tackled the Enforcer through the wall of the building next to her. They entered into a large, open room with heavy bits of machinery jutting up to the ceiling. As they slid on the ground, Bathory threw Fate even further into the room. He came to a stop as she kept rolling, and Arci followed behind him.

"Wow," said Arci. "For a second, I thought...well, I thought that..."

"That I wouldn't show up?" Bathory got to his feet and chuckled. "Now, can I have it back?"

Arci nodded and handed Bathory the box with the relic inside. "Alright. Let's find Yautja and get out."

"Sure, sounds good." Bathory turned to leave as the Enforcer got back to her feet. He and Arci started heading back out of the hole when Fate quickly yelled after him.

"Bathory!"

He froze at the mention of his name. All momentum just stopped, like his feet were made of lead. If he was at all in control, that faded away, and pure helplessness took over. Trembling, he slowly turned around and stared into the eyes of the woman who had just revealed him. She looked back, focused in her mission.

"Bathory Kardenis, you are to be arrested and brought in for one count of homicide. You've evaded the TSAB long enough."

He had been caught up to once again. Just like all previous times, it couldn't last. Safety was temporary. Comfort was temporary. Everything was just a temporary fascination that would be left behind sooner than expected. The cycle just began again.

Now he was stuttering horribly. "I...I...how did you..."

Arci pulled at Bathory's barrier jacket. "Come on, we've got to go" he said. "We got the artifact, let's go." The boy headed for the hole in the wall, but Fate wasn't about to let either of them escape just like that. She summoned a ball of energy in her left hand and threw it at a tall piece of machinery that was by the hole. It toppled over, crashing down and blocking the escape route. Arci screamed, and ran to cower behind Bathory. The former officer hardly responded to any of that - instead, he continued to stare forwards at the Enforcer who had tracked him down.

"You need to come with me" she told him. Like with Arci, Fate started off stern but passive - she made sure that every target got an opportunity to turn themselves in. Few of her targets ever took that opportunity, but she at least offered.

"I...I can't..." her target finally muttered. "I can't let that...let it end like that..."

"Bathory, you knew what would come of your actions when you did them, right? I cannot let you go. However, if you hand over the artifact and come quietly, I'm sure I can reduce the severity of your sentence."

"What sentence? Don't even act like that!" shouted the fugitive. He aimed Aphelion at Fate as he began to get hysterical. "You're here to either kill me now or let them kill me later. Well, if you want to try, I'm ready!"

Fate began to feel confused. "Bathory, you're not going to die. Why do you think that?"

"Because! Because Parkensine...I know he wants to...I just know he does..."

"I'm not going to allow that. TSAB law states that no one receives death, and I will make sure that is upheld."

Arci tugged again at Bathory. "Come on, we need to go" he said again.

"I know, hold on" said Bathory. After he did that, he heard Yautja's voice in his head.

"_Bathory, where the hell are you? I need a bit of help right now."_

_ "I can't...not now, I'm dealing with my own things._

_ "No, Bathory, this is serious." _Sure enough, Yautja sounded like he was beginning to worry. "_A couple officers spotted me and are trying to corner me. I need you to come help."_

To Fate and Arci, Bathory was standing there awkwardly, looking like he was about to explode. Fate remembered the evidence and the interviews she had done so far - he seemed to have treated Ia rather well after their battle, and while he had hurt Minasa greatly, he'd panicked. Fate didn't feel like that was indicative of his actual character. Looking at him now, she wanted nothing more than for him to calm down so she could see what he was really like.

"Bathory, please. I don't want to fight you. I need you talk to me." She hoped she could defuse him.

At the same time, Arci kept trying to get his attention. "Hey, what are you doing? Answer me."

In front of them, Yautja's worried voice shot back into Bathory's head. "_I'm cornered, dammit! They know where I am - I can't run. And I sold my fucking gauss staff to pay for those fucking cartridges. Get over here already!_

"Bathory, let's go" shouted Arci. "You have everything. Why are we standing around?"

"SHUT UP!" barked Bathory, causing Arci to flinch back. He and Fate exchanged nervous glances. "Bathory, please" said Fate, raising her voice again. "I need you to settle down. What's going on?"

Torn between the three voices that were fighting for his attention, he flashed back to the night of the incident. Again, it was this fear that he felt when Captain Shuftan held a gun pointed at Bathory's chest.

"I...I didn't...he was...we...you wouldn't understand!"

Things began to become clearer in Fate's mind. She had been wondering why Bathory's characterization seemed to go against the crime he had committed. The though crossed her mind that maybe there was more to this than she thought there was. Lowering her weapon completely, she took small steps forward while holding her hands up. "Bathory, what happened that night? Did you really kill him?" While she was hoping that maybe he'd be innocent, his pained expression and silence said the answer for him. Fate found it hard to follow up. "And...did you intend to kill him?"

The still-trembling mage started to cry, and he squeezed his eyes shut to get rid of the tears. Fate again understood the answer. The reports had told the truth - he had killed with intent. But maybe he felt remorse - maybe he wished he had never done so. That was now what Fate wanted to figure out.

Bathory had started to panic even more as she got closer, and it continued as Yautja screamed into his mind again.

_"They're breaking down the door. Where the fuck are you? Don't tell me you're leaving me."_

"SHUT UP!" yelled Bathory again. He was so overwhelmed that his mind couldn't contain it the words.

Fate paused at this seemingly out-of-nowhere response. She raised Bardiche back up a little bit. "Bathory, who are you talking to?"

"Shut up..." the mage answered again, but this time he muttered it under his breath. He repeated it over and over as he shut his eyes again. "shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up..."

"Come on!" yelled Arci, looking past Fate at the exit door. "We have to go. Just shoot her already."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" screamed Bathory, turning around and firing at Arci. Again, the boy cowered, but Bathory's attack was halted by a yellow dome that appeared around Arci. When the boy looked up, he saw Fate holding her arm out at him. Looking back at his partner who just attacked him, Arci saw rage building in the man's eyes.

"Bathory..." he asked slowly, "what's going on? What's gotten into you?"

Again, Bathory didn't hear any of that because Yautja was screaming bloody murder in his head. _"They're almost through" _he cried desperately. "_Where are you? WHERE DID YOU GO?"_

Bathory's arms both went up to his head, clutching it. This was too much - he wanted everything to just go away. "All of you, just stop for one second! ONE SECOND! THAT'S ALL!"

The Belkan triangle began to form under his feet as his anger started manifesting more and more. Arci looked back and forth between him and the Enforcer, and noticed that Fate was motioning towards Arci to come over to her. Looking back one more time at Bathory, Arci quickly ran over to Fate. She brought him behind her and held her arm out in protection.

"Bathory, I am going to let you talk. I am going to let you tell me what really happened. And I am going to listen. But first, you need to calm down."

He didn't hear her, but this time was because he was reaching his breaking point. The situation was almost too much for him, and all it would take was for any little bit more to overwhelm him. As if on cue, Yautja came in.

"_They've got me! They've fucking got me. Where are you? You're leaving me to get arrested, aren't you? You fucking betrayer. FUCK YOU BATHORY. FUCK YOU. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU'D JUST FUCK ME OVER!"_

That was the final straw, and action now took over for reason. Against all logic, Bathory opened the container and took the relic from it, letting the empty box fall from the ground. He wanted to get away. He needed to get away. He didn't care about any side effects of the relic - as he held it, the gem started to glow and he felt his own power growing wildly. He stared at Fate, almost bloodthirsty. "You're not gonna take me. No one's gonna take me. NO ONE, DO YOU HEAR ME! NO ONE!" He clutched the red relic tightly in his left hand, ready to strike. Aphelion, feeling its master's intentions, transformed without needing the command.

[**TRANSFORMING TO RAZOR FORM NOW**]

The mage ran forward screaming and dove into the air. He twisted around, and as he did so, the spikes from Aphelion's new form jutted out from the side of it. Bracing herself, Fate pushed Arci to the side and held Bardiche out sideways, forming a yellow shield in advance. Bathory closed in and swung the spikes into the shield, slamming them in. Both mages stayed there in deadlock, trying to overpower the other one. While Fate outclassed the other mage in power, the relic that Bathory was channeling through him was amplifying his attempts, and Fate could barely hold him back. Her focus, though, was on the relic itself - who knew how it would react to the sudden pressure put on it?"

"Bathory," she muttered, "you don't know what you're doing. It's something that could have terrible consequences."

He didn't see it like that; instead, he just saw himself this close to breaking the Enforcer down. With evil intent, he raised Aphelion back up in the air and shouted "Razors, activate."

Again, the blades began to go back and forth, and Bathory drove them back into Fate's shield, cutting into Fate's defenses. Bathory squeezed the relic as tightly as he could and the blades cut even deeper through the shield. They penetrated further and further through, and Fate's eyes widened as she began to lose the battle. After a couple tense seconds, Bathory broke through and drove the still-moving blades into Fate's body, leaving a nasty gash from the top of her left shoulder down to her left side. Fate collapsed backwards, screaming in pain and clutching the cut as she did so. She expected Bathory to capitalize on that, but when she went to defend herself, she saw that he just remained standing and looking down on her.

Arci slowly headed back over to Bathory. He couldn't keep his eyes off of the downed Enforcer. "So..." he asked, "...is that what it does?"

The mage looked back at the jewel in his hand. "I guess so" he said slowly, planning his next move. He held it up and looked back and forth between it and his victim. Fate was again sure that Bathory was about to go back on the attack, and she braced herself.

Before Bathory could do anything, the relic began to glow again, but this time its light was almost blinding. All three mages shielded their eyes, and Fate sprung up to her feet as the relic's surface began to crack.

"You two, get away from that!" She snatched the relic from Bathory's hand and held it in her own. "Bardiche, seal it."

[**UNDERSTOOD, SIR**]

The relic was soon completely encased in a solid yellow barrier. Fate breathed a sigh of relief, but it was cut short when her barrier began to crack and the intense light shined through the cracks. Again, she turned around to the other two in the room with her. "Go! Get away. This isn't safe."

"What's going on?" asked Arci as he practically dragged Bathory away from the Enforcer.

"Bathory, you channeled power from the relic, but it also channeled power from you. It's overloading."

The guilty man put his hands up in defense. "I...I didn't know that it would..."

"Just get out of here," Fate interrupted again. She turned back to the relic that was melting down in her hands and focused on containing it. As the light reached its brightest and hottest point, Fate put all her focus on keeping it sealed, but the relic was just too unstable. It exploded violently, tossing Fate sideways through a support beam and kicking up a large cloud of ash. Bathory and Arci looked on, and when the dust cloud settled, they saw Fate lying on her side, motionless on the floor. The broken support beam dangled from the ceiling, and an eerie creaking sound could be heard from the roof above it. Arci's eyes were set on the Enforcer, and he almost didn't want to leave now.

"What's...what's Yautja gonna say about-"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a loud creak from another support beam as it went under huge stress and snapped as well. Like dominoes, another one snapped, and a fourth one snapped, and the roof started to shake above them. The two mages exchanged worried glances, and then the sound of something breaking free caused them to look back up at a large chunk of roof that was falling down on top of them. Bathory grabbed Arci and rushed the two of them out of the way, and the piece landed where they were, breaking when it hit the ground. Soon, the whole building started to shake, and machinery started to topple as well as more chunks of the roof and walls.

"Bathory," said a very concerned Arci, "we really really REALLY need to get out of here!"

Bathory finally agreed, and the two of them began to run out as the building collapsed on them. He stole one last look at Fate, who continued to lie still. Another large bit of machinery landed right behind them, and they turned to sprint out of the building. With falling debris right on their trail, they made it to the door and busted it open, falling outside. They choked from the dust that had been kicked up, and from the ground, they looked back to see mountains of rubble where they had been.

Ever the forward-thinker, Arci got back up and headed over to the parameter. He went to slowly touch the fence, expecting to be prevented by the barrier, but soon his hand met the rungs of it and he smiled. "Hey!" he yelled back. "The barrier's gone. We can go now!"

Bathory didn't hear him. Instead, he gazed at the rubble, realizing again far too late what he had just done. "She...she wasn't moving..." he said quietly. "She...she didn't...she couldn't have..."

"Come on, did you hear me? We have to go." Arci came back over and pulled on Bathory's arm. Reluctantly, and still staring at the collapsed building, Bathory followed Arci to the fence. Finding another hole in it, the two escaped the perimeter and ran silently through the alleyways of the city.


	13. Killing An Ace Part 2

As the smoke cleared from the collapse, it seemed like all that remained was a large pile of rubble. If there was anyone trapped inside, they were probably long past help. However, buried under the mound was a blonde-haired Enforcer, protected from above by a yellow barrier that reached up from the sides and came together like a sphere above her. It still barely contained her sleeping figure and the heavy debris threatened to break its way in. Her device had gone back to its standby form, and it rested in her hands as she lay on her side.

[**AUTO GUARD - DEFENSER ACTIVE - I AM ABLE TO MAINTAIN THIS BARRIER FOR THREE MINUTES AND SEVENTEEN SECONDS**]

The palms of her gloves had been completely burned through by the intense explosion from the artifact, and the large cut along her left side was, of course, bleeding out onto the floor. Those were hardly the most threatening problems facing her right now. Something in the rubble shifted, and more of it fell down, ready to crush her.

[**SIR, PLEASE STATE A COURSE OF ACTION**]

Bardiche was keeping Fate alive, but it could do very little to wake her up. If it could express emotion, it would have watched its master breathe in and out with growing worry. It tried to reach her over and over again.

[**SIR, PLEASE RESPOND - PLEASE RESPOND, SIR - SIR, PLEASE RESPOND**]

* * *

Lieutenant Winter stood in front of the collapsed building, sighing softly to herself. She did not expect the raid to end like this. "Alright, is everyone here?" she asked into her radio. "Just want to make sure no one was in there when that fell." All her squads answered that all their members were accounted for, and she sighed again. "I guess if any of 'them' were in there, we'll dig them out eventually" she muttered before getting back on her radio.

"Alright then, we rounding everyone up? We checked all the areas for stragglers?"

"Hold on Negati, I got one with me now" said Satel over the radio. He walked out from around the rubble, dragging along a thin man with skinny legs and a collar of birds feathers on his jacket. He was struggling against his binds, and needed to be pulled along with both hands.

"Wait," yelled Raven, "where are you taking me?"

"Uhh, the station" said Satel, "then probably prison. Can't see you getting much community service out of this."

"No, I mean, I need to be with Shia. I need to. Please, if you have any good in you..."

"Don't think I do," said the male Lieutenant, handing the familiar off to another officer. Satel addressed the officer who took Raven. "Find out whoever 'Shia' is and get this guy as far away from him as you can."

"No, please" shouted Raven, kicking away from the man holding him. "You don't understand. We need to be together!"

Satel responded by waving his fellow officer along, and Raven started to be dragged out towards a waiting police car. He passed in front of Negati as she wondered where her favorite Enforcer had gotten to.

"Fate?" she asked over the radio. "Where'd you go? I'd like to talk to you about the artifact."

Hearing this, Raven doubled his efforts to break free. "I know this!" he shouted. "I know where she is."

Negati turned to look at the criminal. "Really? Then where is she?"

"In there," said Raven, motioning towards the rubble with his head. "She's in there. Someone took the artifact from me, and she fought them, and they all went in there. I don't think anyone came out."

Negati stared at Raven in disbelief. "No," she remarked, "she can't be." Slowly turning her head to look back at the rubble, she croaked out a single word.

"F...Fate..."

* * *

Fate finally regained consciousness, and the sudden pain from her injuries shot back into her brain almost immediately. Fully alert, she gasped as she opened her eyes and stared at the barrier that was inches from her head.

[**SIR, PLEASE RESPOND**]

"Yeah, Bardiche, I'm here" she said weakly. Turning her head, she looked around to examine her surroundings. "I take it that the relic did quite a bit of damage to this place." She smiled half-heartedly. "How long is the barrier going to hold?"

[**YOUR CURRENT MANA WILL ALLOW FOR TWO MINUTES AND THIRTY FIVE SECONDS OF DEFENSE**]

Fate remained silent for a while, letting that weigh on her mind. She had never admitted defeat in the face of situations like this before. Still, part of her thought that if this was the end, she needed to set any final things straight. "Bardiche," she ordered, "begin a video recording."

[**UNDERSTOOD, SIR - YOU MAY BEGIN**]

A small screen popped up in front of Fate's head, showing what any viewers would see. Fate closed her eyes and thought carefully about her words. "This is Enforcer Fate Testarossa Harlaown of the Time Space Administration Bureau. I am currently the Enforcer in charge of the case of Bathory Kardenis. If...someone...must continue the case from where I left off, here is my thought: from observing his actions prior to and since the incident, I believe Bathory is not as he is perceived to be and shows high potential for rehabilitation. I would like it if a comprehensive interview with him is performed before any sentencing is done. Also, I don't blame him for..." Fate sighed. "...for my death. Just call it an accident. Finally, if possible, I would like to request that General Parkensine have no involvement in what the final judgment is. Bardiche, end recording."

[**RECORDING SUCCESSFULLY CREATED**]

Fate laughed as she sighed again. She had managed to record that with surprisingly little pause, considering the subject matter. She paused a little longer, but realized that if her time really was short, there was one more thing she wanted to do. Taking a deep breath, she clutched her device in her hand again. "Bardiche," she said, "begin another recording. And lock this file to Nanoha Takamachi."

Again, her device said that it was ready, and again, a screen appeared for Fate to talk into. She inhaled, but then froze as the words had a very hard time getting out. "N...Nanoha..." she croaked. "I...uh...I...I wanted to...to..." Finally she gave up and pounded her fist on the ground. "No, no, no, Bardiche, end recording and delete it."

[**ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT, SIR**]

"Yes, yes...I can't do that...I can't let her see something like that...it would be too much."

* * *

Negati looked on at the rubble, horrified. Not wanting to believe it, she slowly brought her radio up and tried contacting the Enforcer. "Fate...Fate? Answer me. Fate? Fate!" Each time she did so, she shouted a little bit more and looked back at the wreckage afterwards. Finally, she screamed the woman's name at the top of her lungs and rushed forwards towards the building. She continued yelling for the Enforcer, and the magic patterns on her arms glowed as she readied her rescue operation. Negati ran up onto the top of the rubble and grabbed large chunks of debris, blasting them off to the sides. A couple pieces flew over to her fellow officers and landed near them.

"Negati," shouted Satel, "hold on. We don't even know she's really in there. The guy could've been lying."

Enraged, Negati spun around. "Help me!" she yelled. "All of you, that's an order! Help me!" Several officers under her rushed forwards and assisted in blasting away the rubble, including the officer who was currently holding onto Raven. He was pushed back over to Satel, who reluctantly held Raven by the shoulders as the rescue took place. Negati dug deeper, racing against time itself, until she knocked a piece away and saw part of a yellow dome under it. "She's here" cried Negati, striking at the pieces with all her might. As she cleared away more and more debris, it revealed more and more of the yellow barricade until Fate herself could be seen cowering inside it. Panting, Negati pressed herself against the barrier. "Fate," she cried again, "can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Slowly, Fate looked up out of the barrier at Negati and smiled. She deactivated the barrier and Negati fell down on top of her, hugging the Enforcer tightly. "Fate, I thought you...I thought..." said the Lieutenant, tears running down her face. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," replied Fate. Negati got up and helped the Enforcer to her feet. As Fate stood up, Negati got a good look at the other woman's injuries.

"Uhhhh, Fate, are you sure you're okay?"

Fate began to climb out of the wreckage and back over to the rest of the officers. "I would like to request a night in a healing chamber, if that's what you're asking, but there's nothing that will hold me back for too long. I should be fine tomorrow."

"Anything for you." The two of them stopped again once they were back on solid ground. "By the way," asked Negati, "what about the artifact? Do you have that?"

Fate shook her head. "Unfortunately, the relic was destroyed."

"Dammit" said Negati, stomping on the ground. "A priceless artifact just destroyed like that. And I don't even think Bathory showed up."

"Bathory was here. I fought him inside the building. Unfortunately, I couldn't contain him and he escaped when the building collapsed."

Negati sighed, frustrated. "General's not gonna like that..." she muttered.

Interrupting the two, Satel rolled his eyes. "Well, have fun here. I'm taking my car back to the station." He started shoving Raven along, which again caused the stressed criminal to plead with him.

"Listen, you can't separate us. We have to be together."

"No! I'm not putting you together. Why would I do that?"

"Because Master will release me if I have no purpose! It's my duty to be near him and to assist him. If I cannot do that, I have no purpose - no reason to exist."

"Wait" shouted Fate, walking over to them. The conversation had caught her interest. When she got over to them, she looked at the bound man who was staring back at her. "Familiar," she continued, "state your name, your master's name, and the terms of your contract."

Satel temporarily broke his grasp on the familiar as Raven answered Fate. "My given name is Raven. I am indebted to Shia, whose purpose for me is to support him and help him grow his business. I...I have been faithful to him the entire time, but...I know what he's thinking! He's already reconsidering me. I know you don't understand, but..."

Fate cut him off. "Raven, I understand perfectly." She looked over at Satel. "Lieutenant, I'd like you to place this familiar with his master."

Satel shook his head as he grabbed onto Raven again. "Enforcer, I don't know how much you know about jailing people once you catch them, but two people in one cell is just asking for trouble."

Fate was unwavering. "Did you hear me? Do it. Keep them together. His life may depend on it."

Satel rolled his eyes again but followed along. "Okay, I will" he said, walking Raven over to his squad car. The familiar followed along much better now that his safety was somewhat guaranteed. Satel open the back door of his new police car and pushed Raven into it. Raven sat down next to Yautja, who had been sitting there for a while, bound in the same way. Satel got in the car and drove off. As he did so, Raven breathed easier while Yautja just sat there, eyes downcast, deep in thought.

Fate watched the car leave and had a sudden want to go visit her own familiar. Through her missions, Fate was consistently reminded that a free-will contract like the one she made with Arf was the exception rather than the rule, and that many familiars were owned by people who didn't give a damn about their new pet's feelings, or saw them as a means to an end. She'd pay Arf a visit after she got back, she decided. Her thoughts were then interrupted by Bardiche speaking out.

[**INCOMING CONTACT FROM GENERAL PARKENSINE**]

Fate looked at her device and then glanced back at Negati. The Lieutenant came walking over, and Fate looked back again. "Bardiche," she told it, "answer."

Once again, a screen appeared in front of Fate and Parkensine was looking directly at her. "Enforcer," he asked, "I'm getting reports from the scene. Glad you made it out alive."

Fate bowed slightly. "Then I assume you've heard that I confronted Bathory, but he escaped. If you would like, I can try to track him down right now."

"Enforcer, you're acting like you're not bleeding heavily down your side. You are in no condition to fight now."

"I understand, sir."

Parkensine turned his attention to Negati. "We'll stall him tonight and then tomorrow we'll launch an all-out attack. Lieutenant, lock down the city's borders. Don't let anyone in or out of the city, understand?"

"Sir, that's easier said than done" Negati responded. "We have never actually put a lockdown like that into effect before."

"Well, I'm making you do it" said the General. "Bathory CAN NOT leave. Do you hear me? He has to stay in the city. Tomorrow, we will go at him with everything we have. Do I have your agreements?"

"Yes sir" said both Fate and Negati.

"Good. Now get back here soon as you can. I want the Enforcer patched up as soon as she gets here. You are dismissed." He ended the call, and the two women at the crime scene looked at each other again.

"Alright," said Negati. "That went better than I thought." Now that the serious moments were over, her awe and admiration of the Ace came back to her. "You really did some...some great things out there, Fate. Thank you for...uh...for all your work so far."

Fate was quick to respond. "Negati, don't discount yourself."

"Huh? Wha...what do you mean?"

"You saved my life. I'd say you did the best thing out of anyone here. I should be thanking you."

"Really? Well...I...uh...I...that...that was...was very...uh...inspirational! That was very inspirational of you. Thank you, Fate!" The Lieutenant wrapped her arms around the Enforcer and swung her back and forth as Negati hugged her tightly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bathory and Arci continued to run long after the sounds of the scene had disappeared into the horizon. Only when they felt like they couldn't go on any further did the two of them stop. Arci breathed heavily and bent over, putting his hands on his knees.

"I don't...I don't think anyone's following us. I think we're good." He smiled widely and looked back up at Bathory, who still seemed wrapped up in his own thoughts. He had been running on autopilot the entire time, his mind stuck on the image of an Enforcer looking lifeless as rubble crashed down around her.

"I...I screwed up" he finally said. His eyes continued to stare forwards and he seemed to be talking to himself more than to Arci. "I screwed everything up. I lost Yautja, I lost the relic, and...and..." he felt a kick in his throat and couldn't form the rest of the words.

"Bathory," said the boy, "you...you couldn't have known that it-"

"I killed her!" yelled the fugitive. He turned his whole body to face Arci and motioned with his hands as he spoke. "I killed someone, Arci, and this time it was real. I couldn't think - I just - I couldn't stop myself. I panicked! I was just...just so scared."

"What do you mean 'this time it was real'?" asked Arci. "What about the Captain?"

"That was self-defense, Arci. Captain Shuftan wanted us dead." Bathory began to wildly pace back and forth. "He wanted us dead, but Kaisa made him drop the gun...I picked it up and..." He imitated a pistol with his hand and shook it several times to indicate shooting it.

"But if it was self-defense, then why is the TSAB hunting you down?"

Bathory quit pacing and stared straight up into the air. "Because! Just...because. I don't know why. I don't even question it anymore. But it doesn't matter now - I killed again, and this time, there was no reason for it. I could've just knocked her down and then run away like I've done before! I stopped myself from killing that girl - why couldn't I here?" He lowered his head and covered it with his hands. "...and an Enforcer, of all people..." he muttered.

Arci was ready to get going. "Come on, nothing more can be done about Enforcer Harlin. Where are you going to go now?"

"...Wait" said Bathory. He wondered why the woman looked familiar, and a scary thought began to form. His hands lowered from his head and he stared at Arci. "What was her last name?"

"Uhhh, Harlin, I think?"

"You mean Harlaown?"

"Oh yeah." Arci perked up. "That was it."

Bathory's eyes opened wide, and he felt his legs give out under him. He reached for the wall as he fell towards it, and Arci rushed over to brace him as he fell down with his back against the wall. Bathory continued to stare forward into nothing and his voice went to a whisper.

"I...I...I killed Fate."

"What's wrong? Bathory, what's wrong?" Arci shook the man, and Bathory finally looked back at him.

"Arci, do you know who she is? I killed one of the most well know mages in the entire TSAB. I killed an Ace!" His hands rushed back up to his head and he spoke slowly, letting himself soak his words in as much as Arci was. "Once they find her, I will be the most hated, most horrible, most evil person across all dimensions. I'm done. I'm finished. I could run from the Siban TSAB, but I can't run from all the forces that will come bearing down on me."

Arci tried to comfort the man, but he had no idea what to say. He slowly pulled back as the seconds dwindled on. He spent all that time trying to come up with questions, but he only succeeded in forming one. "Well," he asked, "what are you going to do?"

Bathory took a deep breath. "I guess this means I'm done running. I know that. And especially now, this won't end any other way but my death. I just... I have no idea what to do."

Arci didn't seem satisfied, but he couldn't think of anything else. He sat down next to Bathory and the two of them rested in silence. Bathory closed his eyes and tried to just empty his mind of everything that was now on it. Of course, as if on cue, a voice intruded into his thoughts.

"_Hey, Bathory? Can you hear me? Are you there?" _Unlike before, Yautja didn't sound angry at all. Instead, he sounded resigned - almost content. Bathory didn't respond immediately. It didn't sound like Yautja was asking him to.

"_If you can hear me, if you're alive and well and you got away, then I want you to know that I'm sorry. I understand now. I heard what happened with you and the artifact - you weren't able to save me. And I guess I just have to be okay with that. You were right - I depended on you far too much."_

Again, Bathory stayed quiet. He just let Yautja's words soak in.

"_However, I need one last favor of you. I need you to visit Efra. There's something that you have to do for me. I always worried about the day that this would happen - the day that I'd leave Efra on her own. That's why I've saved up for this, just in case. In my room, in the back of the top drawer of my dresser is a note. Make sure she sees it. It's the least I can do for her. Can you do that, Bathory? Will you please?"_

Under the dark sky, Bathory finally responded. "_Yes, I will" _he said, content as well. "_I'll make sure she sees it._"

In Satel's car, being driven along as the lights of the city sped past him, Yautja smiled softly in the backseat. "_Thank you, Bathory. Thanks for everything._"

Bathory continued to slump against the wall, but the heaviness fell from his heart temporarily and he became focused. "Arci" he said.

Surprised, the boy flinched a bit before quickly looking over at Bathory. "What? What is it?"

Bathory smiled. "I know what I'm going to do. Tomorrow, I'm making a final stand. A final gesture to the TSAB. They taught me to fight as hard as I could to the very end, and that's what I'm going to do."

"But...but...how much do you think you can do?"

Bathory put his hand on the wall and got to his feet. "As much as I can."

Arci jumped up as well. "Are you sure? I mean, you could probably hide somewhere for a bit."

"I could, but they won't stop looking. They won't, believe me. They'll put this city in an iron grip to get me, and eventually I'll run out of places to hide. I'm done dawdling. If it's going to happen, then I'm going to get it over with."

"O...Okay" said Arci, feeling sad. "I guess if this is the last time I see you, then, uh, it's been fun. Thanks for putting up with me." He began to slowly walk off when Bathory called out after him.

"Arci, wait."

The boy stopped and looked back. "What?"

Bathory walked over to him. "Do you still want to be a career criminal?"

"I...I...maybe...I...I don't really know..." stuttered the boy.

"Did you ever tell Negati your real name?"

Arci shook his head. "Nope. I kept that a secret."

"Did you use Murder Caliente?"

Arci smiled widely. "She didn't believe it for a second."

Both of them laughed together. "Alright," said Bathory afterwards, "So no one knows your full name but you, right?"

"Right."

"Then I want you to go home and forget about doing any of what you've done in the last few weeks. I don't want you ending up in jail like you almost did."

Arci began to sweat. It's not that he was disagreeing with Bathory, but he didn't know how to react to this. "Wh...why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Because I think you're a good kid, and I think I'm a terrible role model. Inside, below all this new heart and new fervor, I am the most miserable, terrified, fearful man on this planet." He patted Arci on the shoulder. "And I don't really want to see you rotting away your whole life in a cramped cell."

"Yeah..." Arci responded. "Thinking about it, a lot of things happened over the last week. And I don't think I like it as much anymore."

"Then go home, hug your family, yada yada. I'll hold you to it...somehow." Bathory patted the boy's shoulder one more time. "Now, I've got to go do one last thing before tomorrow morning, so I'm headed there now. Bye, Arci."

He walked off down the street, heading towards the Crawmer apartment to fulfill Yautja's last request. Arci had already left Bathory's mind as Efra and their inevitable conversation started to fill it. Therefore, Bathory never turned back around to see Arci slowly waving after him.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, raise your hand if you really thought I would do it.

Well, it seems like my excellent use of chapter titling piqued some people's curiosity - I got about double the viewers for chapter 12 than for, like, chapter everything else. I'll take that into consideration in the future...

Also, in my quest to stick at least one random reference of every regular MGLN character in this story somewhere so you know my legititimimamacy, I think that's about everyone now:). Well, now it's the final leg of the story, so just keep going! Me from the future promises that it's worth it. So just buckle in and enjoy the ride, and keep working on that TVTropes page of mine!

(seriously if I ever find that I have my own TVTropes page, I will scroll past all the spoilered examples of tropes in my story, laughing with maniacal glee)


	14. Relayers

**A/N:** Fine, Yuuno enthusiasts! Stop harassing me. It only took 90,000 words, but I got him in here.

(no one harassed me. no one)

Well, this also kind of wraps up the Victamius-supporting-character plots, and I hope that was also good. Maybe some of you have been scrolling past it to just get to the Fate sections, but also maybe some of you enjoyed all the OC things. Again, your situation is bigger than you think it is. There are always people invested in you that you might not think about at first.

* * *

June 2nd, 0076  
10:30 PM

Bathory stood on the first floor of Efra's apartment complex in front of the stairwell. He had made it this far, but his nervousness was overwhelming. Whatever would happen, he was sure that he wasn't ready for it.

"Aphelion," he asked his device, "what the hell do I say? I have to tell her about Yautja. And I'll probably have to tell her about myself." He paused momentarily before continuing. "This is the last thing I ever wanted to do."

[**MASTER, I BELIEVE YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO ACHIEVE THIS TASK**]

"I know I can do it, Aphelion, but what about her? Like Yautja said, he and I were all she had." He finished, and waited for his device to respond again, but it waited in silence as well. Awkwardly, Bathory laughed. "Guess there's no easy answer, huh? Guess I just have to face it as it is." A little less reluctantly, Bathory began to climb the steps. He imagined one likely turn of events in his head as he passed the second floor - he would tell Efra about Yautja, she would be overcome with grief, and he would console her. But at what point should he reveal the truth about himself? That might be the worst of the two revelations, and he didn't know how long he should put it off. If he was still going out in a blaze at the break of dawn, Efra deserved to know. Bathory left the stairwell and stood in front of her door, letting that sit on his mind. Everything would have to come out eventually.

He paused again before he knocked, a final pause of trepidation, and then forced himself to follow through. After the first one, there was no going back. It was much easier for him to knock several more times and wait. He shut his eyes, running over his lines one final time as the door opened. "Efra," he said, "I know it's a surprise, but I have some bad news for you."

He opened his eyes, expecting to see confusion or mournfulness from the girl. Instead, anger spread across her face and she trembled. She took a piece of paper that had been crumpled up in her left hand, unfolded it, and held it out at Bathory. It was a news article detailing the hotel incident and Bathory's killing of Captain Shuftan.

This was not in any of the expected plans. Bathory looked back into Efra's eyes, almost pleading to her. "Efra," he said, backing up, "I'm going to explain everything if you let me."

"You were lying the whole time" she spat. "You turned my brother into a criminal!"

"Efra, I'm sorry about lying, but I didn't do that last part. Again, I want to talk to you about-"

She interrupted him with a war cry and raised her right hand. In it was the sharp knife that Yautja seemed to love so much. She charged Bathory, ready to drive the blade into his chest, and it was only due to his training that he deflected the attack, grabbing Efra's arm in his own and twisting out of the way so she stabbed the wall behind him. As soon as her attack failed, Efra collapsed to her knees, instantly transitioning from intense anger to debilitating sadness. Bathory knelt down to talk to her, but she turned her head away from him.

"Efra, you don't have to fight me. I want to help you."

The healer mage cried heavily, hardly able to catch her breath. "They already came here...they came here and told me about Yautja, and about you..."

Bathory wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. At first she tried to push away, but finally, she accepted his hug. "What am I going to do?" she asked. "Without you, and without Yautja...he paid the bills, you know? And my application fees, and my examination fees...I don't...I don't make anything...yet...and I needed him."

"Well, Efra, that's exactly why I'm here." Bathory rested his head on hers. "Before he got, uh, taken away, he gave me one last request. He asked me to come by here and show you something that I think will help out a bit." He stood up and held his hand for Efra to take. "Do you want to come with me?" he asked. Efra slowly took his hand and he helped her up.

Bathory led her back into the apartment and they closed the door behind them. Remembering Yautja's words, Bathory walked Efra back to her brother's room. Turning the lights on, he spotted Yautja's dresser and went over to it. He opened the top drawer and reached in, brushing various clothes aside.

Efra looked on, confused. "What...what are you...?"

Her question was answered when Bathory grabbed a slip of paper and pulled it back out. While Efra didn't see what was on it, he did and he smiled. "Efra, where is Yautja's computer?" he asked her.

Efra turned and looked at the other side of Yautja's room. "It's right there" she said, pointing at it.

Bathory headed over to the computer and grabbed a chair. Sitting down, he accessed it. "And what bank do you two use?"

"Siba National."

Bathory accessed the Siba National Bank website, and noticed that the login info was already filled out. Curiously, he logged into Yautja's main bank account. When he saw how much money Yautja had in it, Efra's dire situation was explained. It was barely enough to even cover another month of rent and utilities. Left on her own, she would surely be evicted.

"We...we never had all that much," answered Efra. "He made enough to support us, but not much more than that."

Looking back at the piece of paper, Bathory logged out, rose from the chair and beckoned Efra to sit down. "I think I understand what Yautja was doing" he said and let Efra look at the paper. When she saw it, she froze for a couple seconds, processing what was written on it. On the paper was the login information for another account. She went up to the login information and copied what was on the paper into the boxes. Username: YTC47264. Password: Efra Crawmer.

She accessed the account and what was on screen shocked both her and Bathory. In this account was a large amount of money - all the money Yautja received from his deals that he didn't put back into his 'business'. The Crawmers weren't broke at all.

Bathory rubbed Efra's shoulder as she remained seated, still frozen by what was in front of her. "I'm guessing you can use as much of it as you need to. That should be more than enough to last you until you can be independent."

Tears ran down Efra's eyes from the single silver lining to this ordeal. "Thank you...thank you Yautja..." she croaked. Suddenly, she stood up and began pushing Bathory out of the room. "But you need to go" she said. "You...you...you need to leave."

"Efra..."

"I don't - I don't want to talk to you..." She got him out of the room and dragged him to the front door, reaching out to open it. "You lied to me...I...I can't..."

"Efra, listen" said Bathory, stopping her by grabbing her tightly again. "I lied a lot to you, yes. My name was never Thanus, and I was never on the Victamius TSAB. However..." he looked down into her eyes. "I'm not lying when I say that you two were the best people that I could have asked for. That night you met me, you really did save my life, and everything I thought about you since then was real. I was telling the truth about everything else. You two were always there when I needed you, and I wish so much that I could start tonight over and save Yautja. It's...it's my fault he got caught..."

"But...but..." stuttered Efra. She slumped to the ground, leaning back against the wall of the living room. "You're a killer, Bathory! How do I know you're being honest? You could just be stringing me along. How do I know you're not doing that?"

Bathory slowly sat down next to her and leaned back against the wall. "Efra, think. Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that I never cared for you?"

Efra started to sob quietly. "But...but you're...but you're a killer..."

"Efra, I ran because I had to. I've lied about my identity because I had to. But do you really think I'm lying about anything I'm feeling now and about anything we shared before?"

Efra continued to cry, but she didn't nod her head. She knew he was telling the truth. And even though she was right next to a man who was personified as violent, hostile, and threatening, she felt almost safe around him. Bathory intended to help her for as long as he could, and she intended to let him.

"Now, Efra," said the man, "when's your TSAB examination?"

"It's...it's the second today, isn't it...so it will be on the sixth...four days..."

Bathory sighed deeply. "I know what you're thinking. You wonder how you can pass it now, when all of this is so overwhelming." Efra softly nodded in response. "But you need to pass. You just need to now. For yourself, and for Yautja. Your future is more important now than it's ever been. Again, earlier, when I said I know you can do it, I wasn't lying about that either. I fully believe that. You are strong and you will pass that test, and you will join the TSAB. I know you can do it. Do you hear me, Efra? I know you can."

Again, Efra softly nodded in response, and Bathory let the two of them sit there in their two-person solitude. Outside the window, the faint roar of police sirens would occasionally be heard coming up the street and then trailing off in the other direction. Despite the sorrow of his visit, Bathory felt a sense of peace with Efra. As he had said before, under better circumstances, he would never want to leave.

* * *

"Alright, it should be closing up soon, but you need to keep it tightly covered for a few days." The doctor in charge of Fate finished wrapping bandages over the Enforcer's wound, and stepped back. "Is that good? Not too uncomfortable?"

Fate smiled and nodded her head. "It's fine by me" she said pleasantly. Patting the bandages down one more time, she put on a white undershirt over them. "Thank you for your services" she added.

"Oh, it was nothing. Glad I could help out" he responded. As Fate stood up from the bed she'd been sitting on, the doctor opened the door of the hospital room and beckoned Fate to exit. The two of them stepped into the hallway and the doctor led her over to one of the other rooms. He opened the door and again beckoned Fate to enter the dark room. Turning the lights on, Fate saw a single bed-like machine called a healing chamber on the opposite wall. She climbed into it and lied down, like a bed, but the sides of it curved up above her, waiting for the clear ceiling of it to connect itself across the top and enclose the user. Fate waited snugly in the thin chamber as the doctor adjusted a few settings on a panel on the side of the machine.

"Enforcer, would you like us to take your device for you? We could quickly repair it overnight" he said.

Fate held Bardiche in her hand, and brought it up to look at it. "No thanks," she finally said, "I'd rather keep it on me."

"Very well." The doctor activated the machine, and the top slid out of the raised end at Fate's feel, forming itself above Fate. Healing energy soon began to flow through the compartment, and Fate already felt it get to work. She smiled wider at the pleasant feeling of it.

"One last thing, Enforcer. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call for assistance."

"Thanks" replied Fate. "I might try to get a bit of work done."

"Alright, but don't work too hard. That cut still doesn't look too pretty." The doctor exited the room and closed the door.

Left to herself, Fate's mind quickly wandered back to her target. Bathory. He'd been scared, he'd been terrified, he'd been impulsive, and he hadn't given Fate a very clear picture of him. Again, Fate took into consideration what the last sixteen months must have done to the mage. The constant fears that he faced would have caused him to become more skittish. Him longing for a safety that he wanted back would have caused him to freeze up like he did. He was all these things now, but that didn't mean that he was any of those things on the night of the raid on the Grand Meridian. Fate rolled over as best she could, attesting to Bathory's possible change. Even she had felt and acted completely differently after years of Mother's abuse than she had even a month after being adopted into relative safety and care. It was striking how quickly someone could change after his or her life had everything turned around - be it for better or for worse.

That's why, again, Fate wished that she could see Bathory's true character. It would help explain his actions in dealing with Ia or the others, and perhaps join together parts of this confusing case. And maybe, possibly, his original crime would be explained...

Fate's mission was not to find out what really happened at the Grand Meridian. She was simply to apprehend the fugitive and bring him in for what he'd done. And Bathory had himself confirmed that the report of that night - that he had killed the Captain of his own unit, and had done so willingly - was the truth. Fate couldn't do such a thing as prove innocence, but she was drawn back to that night again and again. Something more happened than what she was led to believe. Along with Bathory, she remembered her meeting with his one remaining teammate and the man's extremely questionable mental state. And what about the third teammate, Kaisa, who assaulted her own city's TSAB headquarters in an assassination attempt only a few weeks after Bathory's crime? It was all too weird. People just didn't do things like that.

Reaching above her head, Fate hit the emergency override button on the healing chamber and it turned off, retracting the roof and letting her sit up. Determined, she held Bardiche in front of her. She was going to find out what had happened, if nothing but for herself. "Bardiche," she said to the device, "Access the Siba TSAB network. Download the device logs for Bathory Kardenis from the archives. Retrieve all files from January 26th, Year 0075."

Device logs were recorded by all TSAB-enlisted mages' devices whenever the device had been used in its activated forms. Normally, these were used to review a mages' performance during combat training or provide other information from in-the-field actions. However, in Fate's case, she hoped that the device log of Bathory's perspective on the raid would provide her with some context as to why he did what he did.

[**UNABLE TO ACCESS THE FILE OF BATHORY KARDENIS - THIS NAME DOES NOT APPEAR TO EXIST ON THE SYSTEM**] responded Bardiche.

"What?" asked Fate, confused. Sure, the logs weren't available for every citizen on every planet to see, but her Enforcer status allowed her full access to all mages and all devices uploaded. Governments were not supposed to delete any files from any mages either. Perhaps she should try the rest of Bathory's old team. "Bardiche, try finding the device logs of Kaisa Ellen or Arin Vesceron from the same night."

[**MAGE NAMES KAISA ELLEN AND ARIN VESCERON ALSO DO NOT EXIST**]

Fate scratched her head. This shouldn't be happening. Why were the three mages, who formed a team that was well-recognized by the Siban government during their existence suddenly gone? If they existed, then they had to be in the system. Fate's curiosity only grew. In the very back of her mind, a small thought began to grow - is something being covered up? Is there something the Siban government doesn't want known? Thankfully, in an event like this, there was a backup source.

The Infinity Library, along with holding nearly every published text that has ever been known, also hosted a server of size as infinite as the rest of the library. On this server was every possible bit of information ever spread across the TSAB's network. Every observed action taken on every planet, both administrated and non-administrated, was recorded permanently in the massive digital archive. To Fate, that meant that it would be guaranteed to host the device logs that she was looking for.

"Bardiche," she said to her device again, "contact the Infinity Library."

[**UNDERSTOOD, SIR**]

The device projected a screen in front of Fate, and she waited for the call to go through. She sat up against the headrest and made herself comfortable. Soon, the library answered her call, and the image of a green-eyed man with his own blonde hair tied back behind him filled the screen.

"Welcome to the Infinity Library - I am head librarian Yuuno Scrya. How may I assist you?"

Fame smiled again. "Yuuno," she said, "good to see you again."

"Fate! Hey," said Yuuno, smiling back at her. "It's been a little bit - how are you? How are things going?"

Fate adjusted the screen so Yuuno couldn't see that she was in a hospital. "Good on all counts" she simply responded.

"Well, if I may ask, what brings you all the way out to Administrated World number 84? Can't say I've worked with that planet before."

"It's fine - I'm back to working as an Enforcer, and I'm on a mission that brought me out here to Siba."

"Wait," interrupted Yuuno, "you started going off-world again? When did that start?"

"Ohhh...nine or ten days ago?"

The head librarian laughed nervously. "I didn't know that. You think I would have heard."

Fate laughed as well. "Oh, Yuuno, you need to get out more. As soon as I get back, I'm making sure you pay the rest of us a visit."

Yuuno put his hands up in mock defense. "I know, but I've been busy recently - very busy. But anyways, go ahead. How can I be of assistance, Enforcer?" He said that last word playfully, which caused Fate to giggle again.

"My mission is to capture a renegade mage named Bathory Kardenis, who used to be in the Siban Ground Forces. About sixteen months ago, he killed his Captain during a raid. Have you heard anything about that?"

"Hang on, I believe so." Yuuno looked away in deep thought, searching through his near-encyclopedic brain for any recognition of that. "Ah, right, yes, I remember hearing about it when it happened, but not much from any follow-up. I'm guessing he was never caught, and I guess that's why you're there."

Fate nodded. "Anyways, to me, some things about this whole case haven't been adding up. I know Bathory's guilty - that's not what the issue is, but I'm curious that maybe something else happened the night of the raid. From reading articles written about him and about his fellow units before the incident, I can't understand why something like what happened would happen. And his teammates have also shown odd behaviors after the incident that I can't imagine they showed before it."

Yuuno followed along, tying to think of answers to suggest. "Do you know what the team was going after during the raid? Perhaps something affected them during that - I've heard of Lost Logia that can alter the mental states and emotions of those unprepared to handle them - perhaps they all stumbled upon something like that. But then..." he interrupted himself, turning away and mumbling under his breath. "...at least someone should have noticed its activity, and I can't remember any reports of that type coming from that planet at that time..."

"Yuuno, all I know is that there were live weapons at the scene of the raid - that's what Bathory used for the act. What I'm trying to do is download the device logs from his device for that day and see if anything is shown that could clear the whole thing up. And I'm calling you because neither he nor his teammates exist on the Siban network."

"Do you suspect someone has tampered with the planet's systems?"

"It's obvious that somewhere along the line, someone has made sure that those files couldn't be regularly accessed. However, I'd suspect that the files I'm looking for will be safely stored in your library."

Yuuno nodded his head. "I'm sure I can get them for you." He continued to speak as he looked off down one way of the large row of books he was currently at. "To do that, I'll need to get back to the central computer of the library. And to do that, I'll have to travel there. The signal will cut out for a bit, but don't worry; I'll be back with you shortly."

"Understood" said Fate, and she watched as Yuuno prepared a teleporting spell and vanished from where he was. The connection faltered for a little bit as it tried to place the head librarian's new location, but it finally caught up with him and he appeared again on Fate's screen.

"And you're back." Yunno was floating in front of a panel that itself floated in front of another massive panel. The panel by Yuuno's hands formed a keyboard on it, and he got to work going through the directories of the device logs, narrowing it down more and more and narrating it as he did so. "Let's see... Planet: Siba - TSAB - Ground Armed Forces - Members - Last name: K - Kardenis - Aphelion - 01/26/0075." He hit one more button and the directory on screen listed every file from every time Bathory's device had been activated from that day.

Fate looked at the recordings she'd been looking for. "Thank you, Yuuno" she said.

"Again, no problem" he answered back. "Now, do you know what time of day the incident occurred?"

Fate shook her head. "No I don't, unfortunately. I believe it might have been later in the evening."

"Here - I'll send you every file that happened after five o'clock pm. That should have the files you're looking for." He hit a few more buttons and began to transfer the recordings to Fate's device.

[**SIR**] Bardiche said, [**DOWNLOAD REQUEST HAS BEEN PLACED - SHALL I CONFIRM**]

"Yes, Bardiche. Allow the download."

Over a matter of seconds, several video files were transmitted across dimensions for Fate to see. The download finished, and Fate looked back up at the screen. "Thank you, Yuuno" she said.

He smiled again. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Actually, I'll just make sure quickly. Could you stay with me for right now?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Fate split the projected screen in half, pushing the one with Yuuno on it away and bringing the other one in. Going through the recently added files on it, Fate opened the first one recorded after 5 pm. It began, and Bathory seemed to be at the training grounds. Several holographic drones appeared in front of him and he rushed in to battle them. Fast forwarding through the file, Fate got to the end, where Bathory finished the program. As it ended, he heard Kaisa's voice and looked over to see her. She said that the briefing was about to start, and Bathory said that he was coming. He started walking over to her when the file ended. Fate went and opened the next file, but it was just a short clip of Bathory inspecting his device. It ended quickly, and Fate opened the next clip. Here, she saw from the device's point of view as the three members of Breach Team 03 were back out in the training grounds. Arin stood in front of Bathory, and Kaisa was off to the side.

The clip started with Bathory already mid-word. "-lright, alright, Arin, check this out. I modified a few things." Swinging his arm out dramatically to the side, Bathory yelled "Aphelion, Razor Form" and brought his arm and his device back up in front of him. The spikes shot out of the side of Bathory's device, and the other two mages seemed impressed. "Look at them -EXTRA LONG" said Bathory, sounding proud of it.

"Well, well I got something even better than that" said Arin, holding his arm out at Bathory. Watching the video, Fate remembered her one meeting with Arin at the very beginning of her investigation. Looking at the mage from the video, it was clearly the same guy, but Arin acted so much differently than he did in the present. He showed emotion, he showed personality, and he didn't act like a completely stripped shell. Not only was he normal, but he was almost hot-blooded.

Back in the video, Bathory watched Arin swing his arm out to the side. "Retrigal," he yelled, clutching a light gray gem in his outstretched hand, "activate!" A staff-like pole shot out of both sides of the gem, but several curved blades formed as two glaives at the ends of the pole. "Now," continued Arin, "Glaive Shield" he said and quickly spun the device around in front of him. The spinning device formed a circle in the same place that a Midchildan magic shield would be.

"Alright," said Bathory. "What's so different about that?"

"I'll show you" replied Arin, grinning in anticipation. "Now shoot at me."

"What?" asked Bathory. Kaisa also expressed doubt towards Arin, but he silenced them both.

"No, no, it'll be fine. Just shoot at me with something."

"If you say so" said Bathory, and raised his device. He let off a single shot that travelled over to Arin and was intercepted by Arin's spinning shield. When the blast impacted Arin's device, it began to glow green in the color of Bathory's attack. Arin saw Bathory staring and smiled even wider than he had been.

"That's not even the best part. You might want to block this" he added, then yelled "Glaive Shield, release!" The shield sent forward a green blast of magic back at Bathory that he blocked with a standard Protection spell. Amazed, Bathory and Kaisa approached Arin as the tall mage brought his own device back to standby form. Many responses of how 'awesome' and how 'cool' Arin's new spell were shouted forth before Bathory deactivated his device and the third clip ended.

Fate sighed but smiled, happy that she could catch a small glimpse of Bathory before the incident. She opened the next clip and was finally greeted by the sights she wanted to see. In front of Bathory and his device was the Grand Meridian hotel, the sky slowly darkening as dusk took hold over Siba Capital. Bathory was waiting with Kaisa, Arin, and a man that Fate recognized as Captain Shuftan. The four of them were primed, ready to battle, and it took only a short amount of time for the call to begin the raid to come through. Captain Shuftan led his team forwards as they burst through the doors into the hotel and immediately encountered resistance. Fate fast-forwarded through the clip as the team battled their way through part of the hotel.

"Fate?" asked Yuuno from the other screen. "Have you found what you're looking for?"

"I believe so" she answered, leaning in intently towards the video. She focused on it and quit fast-forwarding, letting the clip play out. The team had just successfully cleared a hallway from defenders trying to hole up in it.

"Well, congratulations" said Arin, standing by Kaisa.

"Thanks" replied Bathory. "I think that actually went pretty well. Captain, what did you think?" Bathory waited for a reply from Shuftan, but none came. As the clip went on, the three mages noticed that their Captain had become separated from them, and Kaisa picked up his signal from the basement. Fate stared straight at the video as the three mages rushed to the nearest stairwell and descended it. They reached the bottom floor and were about to open up the door when the clip suddenly ended.

Startled, Fate sat there staring at the now-blank screen for a while. She looked over at her device to see if any problems had occurred. "Yuuno," she said, "could you try sending that file again? I believe it may have gotten cut off."

"It's possible that the device may have become subject to an AMF at that very point - a strong enough field can completely disable the log recording connection from the device to the system. That would also explain why a live weapon was used so effectively - let me check on my end." Yuuno opened the clip at his station and went to the very end. For him, it also ended when Bathory was approaching the door to the basement.

"Damn" muttered Fate. Checking the times of the recordings, the next file after that one started a full hour after the previous one ended. Already expecting that it would occur after the incident, Fate opened it up. It began in the middle of action as Bathory was under heavy fire. He yelled for his device to use "Flight Driver", and from what Fate could tell, he went shooting through the hallways of the Siba Capital TSAB headquarters. Behind him, it sounded like he was being chased, and Fate watched as Bathory launched himself through a window, falling down to the ground below. He hit the ground hard and rolled over to see people dressed in all-black protective clothing and full-face helmets staring down at him. Bathory's device dug into the ground and he soared off again through Siba Capital.

Fate checked the length of the clip and saw that it was several hours long. Jumping forward in it, it chronicled Bathory's tense escape from the city and eventual hideout. Disappointed, Fate closed the file and sat back against the top part of the healing chamber. She let out a long sigh.

"Fate, I'm sorry" said Yuuno, trying to comfort her. "I can try looking through some other footage for you to see if there's anything."

"No, no, it's fine" the Enforcer replied, burying her head in her hands. All she wanted was to see what went on in the basement of the Grand Meridian. The one moment in time that she had to see just so happened to be the one moment of the night that went unrecorded.

"Well, while I'm here at the archives, is there anything else you want me to find?"

Fate nodded. The truth of what happened that night was only one of many things that she wanted to understand. "Yes, Yuuno. Find the device logs of Bathory's teammate, Kaisa Ellen."

"Alright." Yuuno backed out through a few directories to get to Kaisa's logs. When he found and selected them, he looked shocked. "Wow" he said, getting Fate's attention. "This profile's logs have been deleted and restored from backup over thirty times."

"Thirty?" asked Fate, wondering if she'd really heard that.

"Yes, over thirty times. Looks like someone really doesn't want these files to exist. Deleting them off of a planetary server is one thing, but trying to remove anything from the Infinity Library's archives is...well...a serious offense."

The idea of a conspiracy just seemed to be getting stronger and stronger in Fate's mind. "Yuuno, go to the same night as before and get me her logs. Maybe she recorded something that Bathory hadn't."

"Alright. And something interesting - after that night, her device logs only go for another three weeks before ending completely."

Fate filled him in. "About three weeks after Bathory's incident, Kaisa attacked the TSAB in an unexpected act of terrorism. She got in a battle with General Parkensine and...succumbed to her injuries."

Yuuno sounded a bit solemn when he spoke. "Right. Well, there are only a few recordings done after the hotel incident - would you like me to include those as well?"

"Yes I would. So you're sending me the files from the night of the raid, as well as everything after."

Yuuno confirmed that and began the transfer. "Fate, do you want me to stay on again?"

Bardiche quickly received all of the sent files, and Fate responded. "No thanks. You have your work to get back to. I'll call back if I think I absolutely need anything else."

"Okay. Well, it's been fun talking to you. Good luck on your mission, and could you tell Nanoha I said hello?"

Fate chuckled. "Remember Yuuno, I'm making sure you get some fresh air. You can tell her yourself."

The librarian waved goodbye and ended the call. The screens in front of Fate merged back into one that showed the files Bardiche had just downloaded. They were again sorted by the date and time of recording, and Fate noticed that on the night of the raid, several files started at about the same time as the files for Bathory. Looking at a file that Fate was sure was of the actual raid, she looked at the next one and saw that it began thirty seconds or so before Bathory's clip. Fate opened the file up to see what was inside.

It began with Kaisa in a brightly lit room and officers wearing those all-black outfits accosting her. Looking quickly to her left and right, Kaisa revealed that she was standing with her two teammates. She and Arin had their weapons out, aiming them at the officers who were shouting over each other at the three of them. Bathory's device was still inactive, and he seemed the most scared of the three of them.

"Drop your weapons" yelled one of the officers, pushing up across the room. "Both of you do it now!"

Arin and Kaisa defended themselves, asking the officers to listen, but things quickly escalated and the officers fired on the members of Breach Team 03. Kaisa and Arin defended themselves and Bathory, who still seemed to be completely stunned by what was happening to him. Kaisa fired at the officers and yelled at Bathory to get out of there. They went back and forth a little, but Bathory finally agreed to run, activating his device and using that "Flight Driver" move to shoot out of the room. Some officers went to follow Bathory, but the rest stayed to apprehend Kaisa and Arin. The officers quickly overpowered the two, and Fate grimaced as she heard Kaisa being savagely beaten before her device retracted and the file ended.

Taking a deep breath and processing what she saw, Fate checked the date of the next clip. It occurred days after the night of the raid. Wondering what she was going to see, Fate opened it up and sat back to watch.

It began with Kaisa again confronting multiple black-clad officers. This time, she seemed to be in her own room, and she seemed to be caught completely off guard as she fired wildly at the guards rushing at her. Panicked, her attacks only hit once or twice, and soon she was again overpowered. Her device ripped from her hands, she and it were dragged out of her room and through the halls of the building. She tried to fight the guards off at first, but her struggles weakened and her objections eventually became quiet grunts as she allowed them to take her over to an elevator. The officers got in, still holding the mage and her device, and one of them swiped a special keycard inside the elevator.

"Access to level B3 granted" said a plain voice over the speakers as the door closed and the elevator descended into the often-unseen areas of the facility.

"What's...what's going on?" Kaisa asked feebly. "Where are you taking me?"

None of the officers responded to her. She let the rest of the long descent go by in silence. When the ride finally ended, the doors opened up and the officers began to drag her through the halls once again. Kaisa had never actually seen this level of the building, or had even known of its existence until this point. She looked around here, trying to peek into the rooms that she passed, but most of them were completely dark within. After a few turns, the group stopped at one of the rooms that was lit up inside. One of the guards opened the door and the group filed in, still holding Kaisa tightly. The room was almost completely barren, with only a single strange chair in the middle of it. Next to the chair stood General Parkensine and another unknown man, and looking around, Kaisa saw her teammate Arin sitting against the wall by the door, legs bent up so his knees were at his chest and his head lowered.

"Arin" Kaisa screamed, again trying to break free. "Arin, help! What's going on?"

Arin didn't respond or even acknowledge Kaisa's voice. His eyes were open, but he simply stared downwards at the ground and did nothing else. His face and body were completely still.

"Arin, what did they do?" Kaisa screamed again. "What did they-" She gritted her teeth and struggled heavily, kicking at the officers who pushed her along. As she was brought over to the chair, Parkensine cleared his throat and caught Kaisa's attention.

"Kaisa," he said, "welcome."

"General, what's going on?" she asked again. "What's happening?"

"Well," answered Parkensine, "naturally, this goes back to a few days ago, when your teammate killed a superior officer."

"General, it's not like that. Bathory had to do it. We'd have all died otherwi-"

"SHUT IT!" yelled Parkensine, and Kaisa immediately went dead silent. "You have no idea how close Marcus and I were. Every time you speak out, you remind me of what was taken from us, far before his time. And every time, it reminds me that Bathory is still out there, escaping the consequences of his actions. I've asked you two to drop the issue multiple times, but you just...won't."

"Because" said Kaisa, hoping he would listen to her. "Because Bathory is not a criminal. He's not who you think he is. He didn't do what you think he did."

Parkensine sighed. "Well, I was going to ask you one last time to let it go, but I can tell you're not going to. Neither did Arin. Officers," he ordered, "start the procedure."

The guard holding Kaisa's device stood back, and Fate watched through it as Kaisa was dragged over to the chair. It was made of solid material and reclined back like a dentist's chair would, and as Kaisa was put in it, the officers got to work strapping her down and restraining her arms, body, and legs in place.

"What is this? What the hell is this?" she asked, trying to free herself. However, the chair did a good job keeping her held tightly to it. Parkensine answered her by gesturing to the other man standing by him and stepping back. The other man walked up to the chair, standing by the top of it.

"Good afternoon" he said informally. "My name is Mr. Tettember. I am a man that specializes in psychological and neurological magic and its applied uses."

Kaisa twisted away from him as much as she could. "And what does that mean? What are you going to do?"

Tettember held up a glove with several wires coming out of it. At the end of the wires were multiple small objects that looked like sensors. As he got to work placing them across Kaisa's head, he said "Parkensine has asked me to just do a small procedure. I'm going to remove Bathory from your memory."

Upon hearing this, Kaisa struggled again, pulling at the restraints with all her strength. "No! No! You can't do this to me." She looked in front of her at her teammate, who hadn't moved at all since Kaisa first saw him. "Arin" she yelled. "Arin! Is this what they did to you?"

"For this, I ask of you that you please cooperate" said Tettember. "One mistake could damage the wrong parts of your memory."

"I don't WANT you in my memory" said Kaisa, still struggling as the man attached the last of the objects to her head. "I don't WANT any of this."

"Well, one way or another, this is going to happen" the man replied plainly. "But, please, I'd rather not do anything past what needs to be done. This will be as simple and as easy as you make it." With his hand in the glove and with all the wires attached, Tettember flexed his hand and concentrated. Kaisa screamed loudly as she felt him inside her brain, sifting through her memories. She thrashed wildly in her binds. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she cried. "STOP! PLEASE, STOP!"

"Kaisa," said Tettember, growing agitated, "you are making this extremely tough. I want to get rid of one thing - nothing more. But it's very, very easy to erase more if you don't let me do my work."

"Personally," said Parkensine, stepping in, "I don't care how much is removed. Just do whatever."

Tettember sighed as he saw how far Bathory went. "He has a very strong presence inside her. This will take about twice as much work now."

Horrified, Kaisa felt Tettember's magic reach past her memories and into her very core - into her emotions. Pulling on all the restraints at the same time, she thrust her head back and let forth a horrifying blood-curdling shriek. Hearing this, her device knew its master was in deep trouble, and it acted on its own.

[**ACTIVATING INDEPENDENT MODE**]

The officer holding Paragon looked down at it, confused, and was caught off guard when the device launched forth its own burst of energy. It knocked itself out of the guard's hands, and fell to the floor as the guard stumbled. It began firing at the other officers in the room, driving them back away from it. Lining up a shot, it aimed at Mr. Tettember and fired. However, Parkensine quickly put up a shield in front of Tettember, blocking the attack.

"Someone get rid of that thing" he yelled. "I'm having a very hard time with this procedure!" Kaisa continues to scream, and Paragon continued trying to defend her. Finally, in all the chaos and all the noise, Parkensine stepped forwards, transforming his own device. He aimed it at Paragon, said something unintelligible, and fired. The bolt pierced the device, and the recording became extremely distorted for a second or two before ending suddenly.

Like before, Fate sat in the healing chamber, completely still. In front of her, a blank screen beckoned her to choose another log to watch. However, her stomach began to wretch and she looked over at the door of the room she was in. She was sickened by what had gone on, and her perception of Parkensine changed even more for the worse. Almost reluctantly, she turned back to Bardiche. Silently, she found the next clip, which took place almost a week later, and opened it.

It began with Kaisa in a hospital bed. General Parkensine was alone in the room with her. "Alright, Kaisa," he said, "I'm glad you're finally awake, and in the meantime, your device has been fully repaired as well." He handed her device back over, and Kaisa slowly took it. She remained silent as Parkensine clasped his hands together and sighed. He looked down at Kaisa, acting very serious.

"Now, Kaisa, I'm wondering if you remember anything from the night of the raid. I understand if you don't remember much, but I'd like you to at least try. Walk me through the night, if you will."

"Well," said Kaisa, extremely monotone, "I...I was there with my team..."

"With Arin, yes" said Parkensine. He nodded his head. "And was your squad leader with you?"

"Y...yes, Captain Shuftan was...was with us."

"And... and what about the Captain?" asked Parkensine.

"He...he was ambushed...in the basement...we tried to save him...but..."

"Mm" replied the General. "Anyways, what happened after he died?"

"I...I don't...don't really remember" said the girl. "Nothing it...it seems...after that."

"Well, Kaisa, both you and your teammate Arin were shot in the head by rounds from a live weapon. Your barrier jackets managed to save your lives, but you seem to still have quite a bit of head trauma. I'm no doctor, and I can't really put this in easy-to-digest words. I hate to tell you this, but you've been in a coma for almost two weeks. We didn't know when or even if you would wake up."

Watching the video, Fate grew angry at Parkensine for the sheer amount of lying he was doing. In the file, Parkensine quit speaking for a bit, acting like this was hard for him to say. He took another deep breath, exhaled, and looked back at the mage in the bed.

"Now, we're just worried about any major damage to your brain, particularly your memory. The last thing I'd want is for a great officer like you to be unable to function. So, tell me a few things. Which team were you on at the time of the raid?"

"Breach Team 03" answered Kaisa quickly.

"Good, good" muttered Parkensine. "Could you please tell me all the members of that team?"

"It was...it was me, Ar...Arin, and Captain...Captain Shuftan."

"And was there anyone else accompanying you during the raid? Anyone else you were with?"

Kaisa remained quiet for a while before answering. "No...it was...it was just...just us three."

"Good," muttered Parkensine again. He smiled at Kaisa, and the smile seemed innocent to her. However, to Fate, she knew that the General's smile showed how happy he was that he'd successfully dealt with his problems. He may have been smiling to Kaisa, but he was grinning evilly to the Enforcer. Parkensine patted Kaisa on the shoulder and went to leave the room.

"Well, I'm glad you could be with us again" he said. "You'll have to stay here for a bit longer, but hopefully you can return to active duty. Good luck." Parkensine left the room, leaving Kaisa alone in her bed, still holding Paragon. The image stayed focused on the open door, and conversations from outside the room could faintly be heard over Kaisa breathing in and out, over and over. After a long period, Kaisa began to whisper.

"B...Bath...Bathory..."

The clip ended after that and Fate again had a silent reaction to it. She composed herself again and checked how many clips were left. Three more. She had seen all she needed to see to understand Kaisa and Arin's strange behavior, but something pushed her on to follow the clips to the end of Kaisa's life. Fate knew it would end in tragedy, but she felt like she had to keep going, and she clicked on the third to last clip. It was relatively short, and consisted of Kaisa at the firing range. She didn't talk and she hardly moved, only raising her device up to shoot at the drones that would come at her. That ended, and Fate moved onto the second to last clip.

In it, Kaisa was standing in a bathroom, staring at herself in one of the mirrors. She whispered Bathory's name several times, as if trying to commit it back to her own memory. Again, her face and voice remained a blank slate, but Fate knew what she was feeling when Kaisa slowly aimed Paragon at the mirror and quit talking. Trembling, she fired at the mirror, breaking it. "They can't..." she muttered. "They can't...they didn't...they won't...I won't let them..." Kaisa deactivated her device and the clip ended.

Fate knew what this was all building up towards. She knew what she was going to watch. She steeled herself and reached her arm out to select the last clip ever recorded from Kaisa's device. At the start, it was nighttime, and from what Fate could tell, Kaisa was standing outside in front of the TSAB building.

"Paragon..." said Kaisa, "call Bathory."

[**CONTACTING BATHORY KARDENIS**] it responded.

Fate watched as Bathory appeared in front of Kaisa and the two of them talked. Bathory seemed confused by Kaisa's change, and kept asking her what happened. She never gave an exact response, and soon she marched on the TSAB. Fate saw everything that Kaisa did, from the beginning of her attack to her push toward the elevator to her confrontation with that General. Fate heard Bathory's pleas, and found herself sympathizing more and more for him as the clip went on. Finally, the inevitable happened, and Parkensine pinned Kaisa to the wall, watching her bleed out. After Bathory left, Parkensine left Paragon on for a little longer before deactivating it.

With the files all watched, Fate leaned back as far as she could and stared up at the ceiling. Deciding she didn't need to see any more, she lied back down and hit the button above her head again. The ceiling slid forwards again and healing magic flowed back around her. Still, she knew sleep would not come to her quickly. Even if Bathory was a cold-blooded killer, and even if he just somehow convinced his teammates that he saved their lives, Kaisa and Arin didn't deserve any of what happened. And if Bathory had even a small reason for doing what he did, if he really had been threatened by the Captain and his teammates were telling the truth, then he was not guilty of what he was charged with. His charge was homicide, and if he acted in self-defense, it was not homicide. Fate's eyes widened.

"He could be innocent" she said to herself. "All this time, it could be a false accusation." Suddenly, meeting Bathory face-to-face and figuring out what really happened became her number one priority. She was not about to arrest an innocent man, if he was one. "Bardiche," she said, "file those videos as evidence for the current case. And delete the video I recorded earlier tonight."

[**YES SIR**]

Fate turned over onto her side and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she told herself. Tomorrow she would go after him. Tomorrow, she would get the truth about Bathory's crime from the one remaining mage who clearly remembered it.

* * *

**Other A/N:** Calling myself out here: I think brainwashing is the cheapest plot device ever, then I proceed to still use it. In my defense, I made sure it really didn't work out like it was supposed to.


	15. Day 000

**A/N: **This chapter is all flashback and as such is a hundred-million-percent all OCs. And I mean, I like coming up with them because I can ask questions about the world that couldn't really be answered/explored by having just canon characters - like how many Nanoha ripoffs would follow suit after she entered the scene, or how other planets would treat 'weirder' things like cyborgs, etc. But I'm going to take a goooooood break from things that are as 'original' as this. Again, I didn't come up with 20 people in a day. Or a week. Or a month. ...or a year...I'd been coming up with this for a really long time...

So I guess I'll try your regular beloved characters for a bit. That means that I'm pretty sure my next thing will be a story centered around Teana trying to teach Subaru about the ins and outs of creating a good investment portfolio and planning out things such as 401ks, IRA accounts, etc as they try to invest soundly and make wise stock-buying decisions. I'm thinking it will run about 80,000 words and it'll take about a week to write and put the full thing up here.

Oh, and for a song for this chapter, uh, I guess go with Kyoto by Consciousness Removal Project. Again, very good longer-song-post-rock/metal, and you can find them on bandcamp, and the older albums are 'pay what you want'.

Next chapter: Fate vs Bathory. For real this time. Stick around.

* * *

.

* * *

January 26th, 0075  
Siba Capital  
8:00 PM

The Grand Meridian hotel was one of the high points of the capital city. In its halls had stood many important figures, and it was in that hotel that the final contracts of service and of administration to the TSAB were signed at the beginning of the new calendar. It had seen many things over its history and had been the inquiry of bureau investigation before, but it had never been subjected to a raid as large and as violent as what it would see tonight.

Captain Marcus Shuftan and his team waited in an alley across the street from the hotel entrance. "Alright, one more time" he said, looking at the three younger officers that were with him. "We went over this in briefing, but I'm making sure we all fully got it. This will be a live weapon and live ammo operation we are busting. Be on your guard, and keep your defenses up. We've trained for this, they haven't, so we have the advantage. Understand, Breach Team?"

Kaisa, Bathory, and Arin all stood next to each other, across from Shuftan. "Yes, sir" the three responded in unison.

"Alright, good to know" said Shuftan. "We've still got a bit of time, but we'll be going in soon." Looking back over at the Grand Meridian, he stepped out of the alley that the four officers occupied. He surveyed the perimeter of the hotel, looking over at various other places where officers had assembled for the raid.

"Bathory" he yelled, and his three subordinates quit their conversation. One of them stepped forwards.

"Yes sir?"

"Come over here, would you?"

Bathory followed the Captain's order, leaving his teammates behind to whisper to each other. The Corporal met the Captain and Bathory looked over as Shuftan spoke to him.

"So, Bathory, I've noticed you giving a couple orders yourself in training."

Nervously, Bathory kept his arms at his sides. "It's not like that, sir. I would never go against your orders. I was just...just, uh..."

Shuftan smiled. "Just practicing a little? Just trying it out?" He looked over at the flustered mage and softly shook his head. "It's okay. When I knew I wanted to be a leader, I tried it out on my friends as well. Most of them just asked me what the hell I was doing. But I can tell you want to keep rising the ranks; all of you do. How far do you want to go?"

Nervously, Bathory scratched his head. "Well, sir, I'd love to become a Captain if I could. Or maybe a Warrant Officer, or a Lieutenant, or...or maybe even a General."

Shuftan shook his head again. "Well, let me tell you, you go much higher than I am and you start having to write more than you fight. Just think about that a little bit. All four of us love diving into the fray, right? If not, why else would we choose to keep doing it? Anyways," he said, pulling Bathory in closer, "if you want, I would allow you to make a few decisions for the team tonight. "

"Like...like what type of decisions?" asked Bathory.

"Oh, you could decide some combat strategy, perhaps. See if you make the right choices or not."

"I...I..." stuttered the Corporal, "I would love to, sir, if I could get the chance."

Shuftan chuckled to himself. "Alright, well, I'll stay in charge for now, but if things are going well, maybe I'll let you take over a bit."

Bathory was ecstatic. "Thank you, sir! I promise I'll do my very best." He ran back to his teammates, a smile beaming across his face. "He's going to let me" he whispered excitedly. "He's going to let me!" he repeated, and Kaisa wrapped her arms around her partner. Bathory did the same and the two of them looked straight into each other's eyes. Kaisa lightly pecked him on the cheek, which quickly followed into a regular kiss and the two of them both closed their eyes. Arin watched them for a second before turning his head and coughing.

"What?" asked Bathory, smirking. He and Kaisa looked back into each other's eyes as he spoke to Arin. "What's so bad about this?"

Arin rolled his eyes and didn't answer. He might have felt a tiny bit excluded, but he was mostly just playing along. He allowed the other two members of Breach Team 03 to keep stargazing.

Sure, for Bathory and Kaisa, being 'soul mates' while also being teammates was like having their cake and eating it too. Anyone outside of the group would see the many potential problems with frequently going to into battle alongside the one person neither of them though they could live without. Still, you couldn't have gotten the message through to them. If you said it out loud to them, they'd smile, say "We know," and go back to doing what they were doing. In this case, the two of them went back to being romantic, resting their heads against each other as Kaisa ran her hand through Bathory's hair. Arin went back to leaning against the wall and looking forward to the raid.

Soon, the scene was broken by Captain Shuftan walking back over to the three. He held his radio up and the mages heard what was being transmitted.

"All units, we have set up the perimeter and we are ready to go. Wait shortly for my signal."

Shuftan nodded at the other three. "Ready, team?"

The three all activated their devices and barrier jackets. "Ready, sir" they said, again in unison.

Shuftan kept holding the radio, waiting for the next transmission. After about five seconds, the voice flared up again.

"Alright, the mission is a go, I repeat, the mission is a go."

Shuftan put the radio back down. "Breach Team, we're heading in" he yelled and turned to run over to the hotel. The other three followed, and they rushed onto the site as police cars blocked off the streets behind them. They ran to the front doors, where they could already hear fire from magic devices inside. Bursting through them, Shuftan took point and fired on the group of attackers they had just come in behind. "This is a capture and detain mission" he yelled to his team as they took positions. "Bring back as many weapons and make as many arrests as possible."

Bathory ran forwards, standing next to Shuftan. "Do we know where the live weapons are being handled, sir?"

"Negative. Again, use full caution for every encounter."

No one ever thought that the lobby of this prestigious building would ever be subject to a tense firefight, but that night, that was the case. Dodged attacks blasted the walls and columns, kicking loose anything that hadn't been held down. Most of the criminals inside carried magic-based weapons, and hadn't gotten their hands on or taken anything from the weapon trade yet. Only one of the people doing battle in the front lobby had gotten his hands on one of them. Loading it, he pointed it at Arin and fired. Arin had seen him get it ready and had channeled enough power into a regular shield to cause the bullets to bounce right off. He rushed the attacker, using one of the glaives on the ends of his device to cut at the man's hand and force him to drop the weapon. Arin swung back across the man, cutting the weak defenses until the man toppled over. He went quietly when Arin held the blades of his weapon against the man's throat.

Arin's teammates had also pushed up, and soon the lobby was free of battle. It was only the beginning, though - the real transactions were taking place deeper in the hotel, and the four of them weren't anywhere near the center of it yet.

Kaisa looked around the lobby, making sure no one was left who could fight back. Satisfied, she turned to Shuftan. "Where next, Captain?"

Shuftan brought his hand up to his earpiece and set it to transmit. "This is Captain Shuftan of Breach Team 03. Our current location is clear - anyone in need of assistance?"

A couple seconds later, another voice was heard coming back into the earpiece. "There's a large holdout in the back hallways, Captain, that we could use you for. We've blocked the doors, but they're trying to push their way through will all they've got."

"Right. We'll be on over" said Shuftan, and once again rallied his team. They rushed off through the halls of the first floor to again flank another party of criminals. He looked behind him to see his crew following. "Bathory," he said, waving his hand at the mage.

"Yes sir" asked Bathory again. Shuftan kept waving for the Corporal to come forward. Bathory did so and he and Shuftan ran side by side as they talked.

"So," said Shuftan, "if you want to try leading a bit, I think I'll let you make the orders on this next attack."

"S...sir?" asked Bathory, again excited. "Do you mean that?"

"Sure. Consider this a trial, if you will."

Bathory turned around to his teammates. "Alright, guys, here we go. Are you with me?"

Kaisa beamed. "We'll follow your every word!"

"Sure" said Arin. "Same as her."

They reached the back halls of the hotel and heard a heavy battle taking place around the next corner. Stopping them all, Shuftan peered around the corner at the group that was basically throwing themselves against the blockade of the other officers. Shuftan looked back and patted Bathory on the shoulder.

"Alright, it's all you now."

Bathory took a deep breath. "Arin," he ordered, "provide the first attack. Recon a bit while you're out there as well."

"Alright, s...si..." Arin chuckled, unable to say the word.

Bathory chuckled as well. "It's alright, you really don't have to."

"Whatever. I'll go, fellow Corporal" he said, stepping out of cover. He held his arm back, ready to swing it forward. "Retrigal," he yelled, "Fire forwards." He swung his device forwards, sending out glaives of energy from the two ends that sailed through the air and slammed into the backs of the criminals. He caught the first few unaware, but soon the group had noticed him and dodged out of the way as best they could. They retaliated, sending a whole barrage back at Arin, who held his device out vertically in front of him.

"Let's see how well this goes..." he muttered before yelling "Glaive Shield!" He spun the device quickly around in front of him, blocking the attacks and taking in part of it. When the device had reached its capacity, Arin cried "release" and shot back a concentrated ball of energy at the group, taking out another one or two. He ducked back around the corner, letting his weapon cool down.

"Give me another week or so," he said, "and I can double that."

"Nice" said Bathory. "And what did you see out there?"

"Open room down the hall to the left. I think we should push up."

"Sounds good. We all rush up and, uh, Kaisa - you go first. You okay with that?"

Again, the girl was beaming from ear to ear. "I shall not disappoint you, oh Captain Bathory!" She ran out into the hall as the opposing group had focused back on breaking out of the hotel. She leapt into the room, but almost as soon as she entered, she was blasted back out into the hallway. The criminals heard the sounds from that, and turned back around to shoot.

"Kaisa!" yelled Bathory. He rushed forwards to protect his partner. "Arin, emergency shield" he said, hopping over the girl and standing in front of her, putting up his own large shield to block everything fired from down the hall. Arin ran over as well, putting himself between Kaisa and whoever shot her from in the room. He put up a shield as well, allowing Kaisa time to get back up.

"Round two" she said, staring forwards through Arin's shield. Arin deactivated his as Kaisa ran back in at her aggressor. He fired at her again, but Kaisa spun to the side, letting it fly by her. She got in close and bashed him in the stomach with her device. He recoiled, and she followed up by swinging her leg around at the back of his feet, kicking them out from under him. Arin ran in the room, Bathory followed, and Arin defended the entryway to give Bathory a short break. Kaisa, meanwhile, kicked the man onto his stomach before grabbing his right foot and breaking the ankle. The man cried out in pain, but was otherwise taken care of.

"Okay, Bathory," said Arin. "What next?"

Bathory paused for a bit, trying to decide on what to do next. He'd done a good job so far of getting them here, but now, several plans raced around through his head.

"Would some heavier firepower help?" asked Kaisa. Reaching for a cartridge, she held it out for the other two to see.

Her partner smiled. "Yeah, that was one of the options. Think a Mass Array's a little too much, though?"

Kaisa shook her head. "I think it's just enough."

"Then we'll go with that. I guess I'll be the bait." He walked back out of the room as Kaisa set up her attack. "Breach Team," he yelled, getting the attention of everyone in the hallway, "retreat from your positions." He backed up slowly, holding out his shield again as the remaining attackers all shot at him. By this point, his shield had weakened by quite a bit, and he found it hard to keep in going. However, as the attackers kept whittling it down, Kaisa stepped out of the room, holding her device forwards as a large ball of blue energy hovered in front of it.

"Paragon," she yelled, bracing its back end against her body, "fire!"

The blue ball was launched forwards, breaking apart into smaller attacks that filled the whole hallway. It tore through the rest of the attackers, disabling them in one loud wave of magic slamming against shields and of people shouting in pain. No one was left standing, and Breach Tem 03 watched as the other officers ran up from the far end of the other hall, taking control of the situation. Arin stepped out of the room and surveyed the end result.

"Well, congratulations" he said, looking over at Bathory, who was walking back over to them.

"Thanks. I think that actually went pretty well. Captain, what did you think?" Bathory expected Shuftan to respond to his first foray into leadership, but he didn't hear a response. He looked around, expecting Shuftan to be nearby, but there was no sign of him.

"Captaaaaaain?" asked Bathory. "Captain? Where'd you go?" He ran back up the hall to where they began the attack, but Shuftan wasn't there either. "Guys, where'd he go? Did he leave us?"

"Hang on" said Kaisa, staring at her device. "I'm finding him right now." The three of them gathered around Paragon as it tried to pinpoint the captain's signal. Finally, it said something.

[**SIGNAL IS LOCATED 87.3 FEET NORTHEAST AND 30 FEET BELOW YOUR CURRENT POSITION**]

Arin looked back at the other two. "The basement" he said.

"Well, come on. Let's go help him out" said Bathory, running off to find the nearest stairwell. His teammates ran after him.

"Why would he leave us like that?" asked Kaisa.

"I don't know" replied Arin. "Maybe he got a distress call down there. Bathory, he might have figured that if you could lead us there, he could go help out somewhere else."

"I guess so" muttered Bathory. "Well, we should form up with him again. That's what he'd want us to do." The three ran around for a bit before finally finding a set of stairs. They entered and raced down them, and Bathory was about to bust open the door to the basement when all three of them were hit with the same nauseous feeling at the same time.

All three of their devices lit up and spoke about the AMF that had been created. Bathory ended up stumbling through the door more than busting it open, and the three officers had to brace themselves against the walls. The field was extremely strong, and the three of them found it tough to even keep their devices active.

"What the hell?" asked Arin. "Why would there even be a field here?"

Over the three's devices, an emergency broadcast was transmitted to each of them. "All officers, pull back from the Grand Meridian now" said a stern voice. "The situation has become extremely dangerous."

Bathory sighed. "An AMF and live weapons...this is a worst case scenario. Someone doesn't care whether they leave a blood trail behind them." The three of them rested momentarily.

"So," asked Kaisa, "what should we do? Should we head out, or should we keep looking for the Captain?"

"We have to find Shuftan. We have to" said Bathory affirmatively. He stood up straight and stared off into the rest of the basement. "He could be in trouble. He needs us. Come on; we have to find him. Just stick together, and I'll make sure we get through." The other two rallied behind him, and they set off through the basement. Bathory tried to remember where Shuftan would be from Kaisa's earlier positioning, and headed in that general direction. Every hallway they went past, they checked it to make sure nobody was lying in ambush with a live weapon. The three of them were still competent at actual physical fighting, but in these conditions, a bullet's range was far greater than theirs.

Eventually, they came to a double door for one of the hotel's underground loading bays. Peeking through, they saw their Captain on the other side of the room, talking to two other men who stood across from him.

Standing outside in the hallway, the three officers conversed among themselves. "What's he doing?" asked Bathory.

"Begging for his life?" said Kaisa. "I don't think we're too late, but it looks like the two over there might have some of the live weapons from the trade."

Arin peeked through the small window in the door again. "Then it would be suicide to rush in from here. We need to get closer."

Bathory took a deep breath. "Alright, then I say we find another way in. Somewhere closer to where those two are. We need to take them down."

"Sounds good, Captain" said Kaisa, and Bathory chuckled again as they ran off to get behind the two criminals.

"Kaisa, you really don't have to do that. I just want all of us to get out of here. This is just...just a really bad situation."

"Well, Captain Bathory" said Arin, stressing the rank sarcastically, "don't you remember all the training we did for a situation just like this?"

"Yes, I remember the plans. I also remember there being a lot of improvising in those plans."

"Well, here, I'll take one of the guys if you're not sure you can do it."

"And I'll get the other one" said Kaisa. "I won't let either of them hurt our Captain."

Bathory agreed with the plan as they pushed up to another double door that swung out into the loading bay. Peering through the window again, the officers saw the two criminals still facing and talking to Shuftan. Both of them were holding bags that were probably filled with live weapons and ammo.

"Alright" said Bathory, taking several deep breaths. He held his left arm out in front of him and concentrated as best he could on forming a simple ball of energy. The AMF field made it extremely difficult to focus, but he was able to press through and keep it going. "Here's what we do. We can still attack, just not very heavily. Do you two think you can do a smokescreen?"

Kaisa got into position. "I believe so" she said.

"Me too" added Arin.

"Okay, then we'll do that. You two smokescreen over to them, and I'll...again be the distraction. With any luck, we'll all make it out unharmed." The three officers stood in front of the double doors, ready to enter the room. "Here we go" shouted Bathory. Three, two, one, breach!"

The three of them ran forwards, charging into the doors and slamming them open. The two criminals turned around, started by the noise.

"TSAB!" cried Bathory. "DROP EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW!" As he stopped, Kaisa and Arin shot at the ground in front of them, kicking up dust and preventing the criminals from seeing them. They ran back into the center, crossing over to avoid any gunfire, and surprised the two by diving out of the smoke at them. Both criminals fell to the ground, and Kaisa and Arin wasted no time in subduing them as much as they could without most of their magic. As this happened, Captain Shuftan just stared on in disbelief.

"Got 'em!" said Kaisa when the two men couldn't fight back. Bathory, meanwhile, ran over to Shuftan.

"Captain" he said, relieved. "We're so glad you're okay."

Instead of answering like Bathory expected, Shuftan's eyes widened and he almost yelled at his subordinate. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

Bathory looked back at Kaisa and Arin, who were still forcing the other two into painful submission. "We...we uh...we lost contact with you upstairs" he stammered. "When the AMF hit, we thought you might be in trouble. Is that not what was going on?"

Now it was Shuftan's turn to stammer. "No...no no, that's correct. These two here were about to shoot me."

"Bullshit, Marcus!" cried one of the two pinned men, and all four officers looked over at his in surprise. "What a dirty fucking liar you are."

Bathory turned his whole body around to face the man. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't understand either" said Shuftan. "I've never seen you before now."

"What, were we not lining your pockets far enough?" asked the other downed man. "So you just sick your team on us? That's low."

Now it was Arin's turn to speak up. "What are they saying?"

"They're not saying anything" said Shuftan, raising his voice in anger. "Arrest these two for weapons smuggling and assaulting an officer."

"Oh, now you're backpedalling?" asked the first criminal, also raising his voice. "Let me remind you of what you're SUPPOSED TO DO. You tell us when these raids are gonna happen, and then you pawn anything you find off to us. That's what you ask us to do, at least until you get caught. I thought military guys we supposed to stick to their honor." As he said this, Kaisa, Bathory, and Arin looked back and forth between themselves, not sure what to do.

"No, no, NO! You're the ones that are lying here. Breach Team, don't listen to them. I came down here to find more live weapons and secure them, and these two ambushed me. That's it."

"Hey kids," the second man responded, yelling at Shuftan as well. "How does it feel knowing your superior is this corrupt? Knowing that he tried to run away, tail between his legs, like a FUCKING DOG?"

Shuftan had had enough. He pulled out a live weapon that he'd taken for himself and shot both men once. Kaisa and Arin were still holding them, and they both recoiled backwards in surprise. Bathory did so as well, and the three of them huddled together as they watched their Captain walk up to the two groaning men.

One of them coughed up blood and grinned through bloody teeth at Shuftan. "Still two-faced to the end, huh Marcus?" Shuftan responded by shooting them both again, this time in the head. Pieces of skull and brain matter coated the floor above the two dead bodies, and now it was only the four officers in the loading bay. Shuftan looked up slowly at the other three.

"Breach team," he said, "sorry you had to see that."

Bathory tried to talk, but couldn't even speak through the horror that filled him. "Cap...Captain...w...why?"

Shuftan looked back down at the two men. "They were lying - lying completely. They must have been setting me up - I've never seen either of them before. And they were trying to get you to turn on me."

"Captain," said Kaisa quietly, "I...I can't believe you do would do something like that."

"Then don't" yelled Shuftan back at her. With the gun still in his hand, his raised voice was enough to make the three flinch back again. "Don't believe it. I've never done anything of the sort."

"I don't know" said Arin, stepping forwards. "Maybe you are. You know that our recovered stock on these raids is never what it should be. I mean, I often wondered where it went, you know? And, Captain, if you are doing what they say you do..." Arin continued slowly approaching Shuftan until Shuftan raised his hand up, aiming the gun right at Arin's head.

"Back up" said Shuftan. There was stunned silence between Arin and his teammates as he began to retreat again at a snail's pace, holding his hands up in defense.

"Captain?" asked Bathory. "Are you...wha...what's going on?" As Arin got back in line with the other two, Shuftan slowly and deliberately waved the weapon back and forth, as if choosing who to shoot first. He began to mumble to himself.

"...huh...wonder how that would look in the papers..."

Tears began to form uncontrollably on Bathory's face. "Captain, please don't-"

Shuftan interrupted him loudly, spouting off his next line like a lunatic. "Three strike team members were found gunned down in a raid, the report will say. Their Captain is the only one left. It was truly sad that he was faced with such tragedy, but he will continue on."

"Shuftan!" Bathory cried. "So was none of this real? Did you never care at all about the three of us? Was everything you said to me upstairs just a means of distracting us? Do we really mean anything to you?"

The Captain sighed. "Well, I'd have preferred if you three just stayed out of this, if that's what you're asking. You should've just stayed upstairs. But, you know, I have to look out for my own interests now. I can't let you out of here to ruin me. And Bathory, since you're asking so many damn questions," he said, settling his aim on Bathory's chest, "I think you'll be first."

It was that moment where Bathory was sure he was going to die that was burned into his mind. The man he had looked up to for the team's long tenure had completely changed in a matter of seconds. And it wasn't just the matter of feeling the worst betrayal of his life; he was sure he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Bathory had never thought much about death before this point in his life because to always keep it in a part of your mind was to allow that much more fear and doubt in. If Bathory had tried his hardest to stay away from danger, he would never have gotten this far in the TSAB. However, in the little amount of time he'd ever thought about it, he had decided that he wouldn't spend his final moments being completely out of control. If something were to kill him, then he wanted to give it hell to the very end. In the basement, though, his final actions would have been to stand there and die in the exact way that he didn't want to go.

Thankfully for him, Arin wasn't as paralyzed as he was. As Captain Shuftan fired, Arin jumped in front of Bathory, clenching his fists and trying to push as much magic back into his barrier jacket as possible. Despite almost making himself throw up, he made the outfit strong enough to stop the bullet. It hit him, and while it didn't pierce his body, it left as dark a bruise as it could possibly leave. Arin collapsed, and Bathory finally rejoined the world, kneeling down to check on his protector.

"Arin" he shouted, watching the other mage clutch the bruise and wince in pain. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see the Captain walk up to stand in front of the two.

"Captain," begged Bathory one more time, putting his head back down. "I...I just..." He gave up and closed his eyes, waiting for his own skull to be shattered through by the weapon. Instead, he heard a cry of rage come from the other member of Breach Team 03 as Kaisa ran up and dove onto Shuftan. Bathory looked back up again to see his partner fighting for control of the weapon. Shuftan kept trying to push her off of him, but she held on tightly to his arm, constantly trying to break his grip. Obviously, he wasn't about to let her win, and he exchanged several curses towards Kaisa that Bathory never though the Captain would ever say to her. Eventually, Shuftan knocked Kaisa off balance and she went falling towards the ground. Her iron grip on him remained, though, and he went down with her as the weapon was knocked out of his hands by the floor. He landed on top of her and he already had the advantage as he wrapped one hand around her throat, trying to punch her skull in with his other hand.

"Bitch!" he yelled, digging his knee into her throat as his other leg set about pinning her down. Kaisa flailed at him, but wouldn't be going anywhere under him. Catching her like this, Shuftan reached blindly for the dropped weapon to finish her off. No matter how much his hand looked around, he couldn't seem to find where it had landed. Finally, he turned his head and looked back for it, only to see it in the hands of Bathory, aimed at the Captain's chest.

Shuftan slowly lifted his knee off Kaisa's throat. "Bathory," he said, "I-"

Bathory didn't want to listen. He fired, sending one shot straight into Shuftan's chest. The Captain's body swung back from the impact, and his head lowered to look at the wound. The bullet had buried itself deep into him. Shuftan slowly looked back up to see his shooter trembling with rage and again tried to speak.

"Ba-"

As soon as that first syllable came out, Bathory fired again, pulling the trigger over and over. Six more rounds all went into Shuftan, and the only sounds heard afterwards was the sound of Bathory continuing to pull the trigger back another seven or eight times, even as nothing came out. Shuftan's body slowly fell back off of Kaisa, and the terrified girl pushed against the ground to get away from it. Slowly, Bathory lowered the weapon and let it drop to the floor. He took several labored breaths, staring at the sight in front of him. Shuftan had died quickly, and was lying still on the ground. The other three were also almost as still as he was.

Finally, Bathory found the strength to walk up to his former Captain. He didn't know exactly what to feel. Relief? Sadness? Guilt? Confusion? Instead, he felt almost terrified.

Arin had gotten up and walked over to the body as well. "Bathory," he said, "that...that was..."

Bathory dropped to his knees again, letting more tears flow from his eyes. "I fucking killed him!" he finally said. His lead lowered and he began to whimper. "I...I just...just...just...he's...he's dead now, and..."

His partner came back over and wrapped her arms around him. All three of them were deeply shook up, but Bathory was the most affected. He'd become completely incomprehensible, and the amount of half-spoken words and unfinished sentences he said would have taken up pages of its own.

"You did the right thing" whispered Kaisa, trying to calm him down. She kept her arms held tight around him and buried her head into the back of his neck.

"But Kaisa," he croaked, "I...I did it. I shot him. I...don't...I don't understand..."

"Bathory," she said, "look around you. He wanted us dead. He wanted Arin to die, he wanted me to die, and he wanted you to die. You saved our lives."

Arin had stepped away to give the couple some room. He walked back over to the other two bodies, taking those in as well. Looking down at them, he suddenly felt the AMF disappear, and the continuing nausea from the field vanished from his chest. The nausea from all that just happened, however, still remained. He heard footsteps from outside the door that they had entered towards and just hoped it wouldn't be any more criminals. Instead, another team of officers ran in, stopping in front of Arin.

"We are with the recovery teams" said one of the officers. "Please state which unit you are in."

"Breach Team 03" said Arin, stoically.

The front officer turned around. "We found them!" she yelled, then turned back towards Arin. "We should be pulling four people out of the building. Where is the rest of your squad, officer?"

Arin sighed and motioned that his team was behind him. The recovery team ran past him over to the two kneeling mages. They all stopped, however, when they caught sight of Captain Shuftan's body.

The head officer let out a sorrowful sigh and cleared her throat. It was never easy pulling people away from their companions like this. "Breach Team," she said, "we're here to escort you out. Could you all please state your names?"

Arin walked up to her. "I'm Arin, and those two are Bathory and Kaisa. And...uh...and..." Looking at the officer, he didn't have to finish his sentence. Only one name from the four members of the team hadn't been said.

Kaisa noticed the other unit, turning around and standing up. "Arin, are we going?" she asked him.

The recovery officer responded. "The raid's over. You three need to get back to base...especially now."

* * *

High atop the Siba Capital skyline, General Parkensine waited in his office for the final report of the raid. He had heard it had gone fairly successfully, but he liked to know the actual numbers. On cue, a secretary walked into his office with a folder of documents.

"Here are the results of tonight, sir" she said, handing the folder onto his desk.

"Thank you," he replied, leaning back in his chair. "So, go ahead, I'm hearing good things. Tell me the results."

"Well, sir" said the woman, "The officers who were at the scene took in over seventy weapons and over one thousand rounds of live ammunition. The confiscated weapons are currently being transported to, of course, undisclosed locations."

"Very successful, if I say so myself."

"Also, your officers performed exceptionally well, and there are very few injuries and deaths given the situation that developed tonight. There were only eight officers who needed immediate medical care, and only one fatality."

Parkensine leaned forwards in his chair. He opened his desk and took out a blank form and a pen. "Alright - tell me the fatality. I'll get to work on their processes."

"Our one fatality of the night was Captain Marcus Shuftan, leader of Breach Team 03."

Parkensine froze up and his pen dropped onto the paper. His silent pause told the secretary that this had affected him quite a bit. "Sir?" she asked. "Would you like me to leave?"

"Marcus..." said Parkensine, quietly at first. He repeated his close friend's name multiple times, growing more distraught each time. Very few people had ever seen the General like this.

"Sir," said the woman, "I'm...I'm sorry for your loss."

Parkensine sprang out of his seat, screaming as he swiped his hand across the desk and sent the contents of the folder on his desk scattering to the floor. After that, he slammed both hands down and stared angrily at his secretary. "Please tell me you know the son of a bitch who killed him. Please tell me I can get my hands on him!"

"Y...yes, yes sir we do" said the secretary.

"Well then tell me! Tell me, damn it, and tell me that I can go rip their fucking throat out right now."

"Um...sir..." replied the woman, growing more fearful for her own life as this went on. "It...uhh...was kind of an odd...situation..."

"I don't care. I just want to know who did this to him."

"We...well...the report is in the...the folder that I...that I gave you..."

Angrily, Parkensine walked around from behind his desk and put his hands on the secretary's shoulders, staring at her. "Listen," said the General, "there are many, many people who work under me in this city. Captain Shuftan is the only one I would die for. You could not find anyone closer than the two of us were. And now, he's gone. Someone out there has spilled his blood, and I want to know who it is!" He practically shook the woman as he yelled that last sentence.

"Okay! His name is Bathory Kardenis" she cried. "Also of Breach Team 03! From what reports were given, Bathory shot Captain Shuftan multiple times with a live weapon." She hoped this would calm the General down, but he only grew even more furious.

"What? I was expecting some low life scum to have done it, but an officer directly under Marcus? What the hell is going on?"

The secretary tried one last time to actually explain the situation. "Well, s...sir...the reports say that-"

Parkensine pulled her in, and she froze up again. "Where is he now? Where is Bathory?"

"He's...he's with the rest of his team in an after-briefing room...probably waiting to be interviewed about what...about what happened."

Parkensine released her, fuming. "Very well, then. You're dismissed" he said and she ran out of the room. The General went and sat back down in his chair, still overflowing with anger. He decided that he needed to see his companion's killer, and that he needed to see him now. Preferably detained and in a holding cell.

* * *

The three remaining members of Breach Team 03 sat in a brightly lit room. Kaisa and Arin sat next to each other, but Bathory sat across the room from them, staring down at the floor. His eyes were open, but they still saw Shuftan falling back onto the floor with multiple bullet holes in his chest. Bathory couldn't get over the fact that he had just killed someone, and of all the people to do so, it had to be his Captain. But he also clearly remembered the gun being pointed on him and Shuftan's sudden and complete disdain for the officers that Bathory thought he loved.

Across from him, his partner tried to break him from his slump. "Bathory" said Kaisa, trying to reach him. "It's not your fault. You did the right thing."

The other mage responded by shaking his head. "I still don't understand anything, really. Will I ever? I don't know."

"Well, take your time" replied Kaisa. She got up and walked across the room to sit down next to him. "And I'll be there with you every step of the way. We can get past this. I know we can."

Bathory almost smiled for the first time since the raid when the door to the room opened. The three mages looked up, and were surprised to see a group of guards in full-body protective gear storm into the room. The three mages hopped to their feet and backed up to the other side of the room. Kaisa and Arin activated their devices as the guards all shouted at them. Kaisa and Arin were confused and nervous while Bathory was almost completely terrified.

"Drop your weapons" yelled one of the officers, pushing up across the room. "Both of you do it now!"

"Wait!" shouted Kaisa. "Wait! What's going on?"

The head officer pointed at Bathory. "You need to come in for questioning. And you two need to stand down. Do not interfere with the apprehension of a known criminal."

"Is this about the raid?" asked Arin. "Because we've explained several times. You can read all three of our reports. And if Bathory's going anywhere, we're going with him!"

"I should mention" replied the head guard, "that we are authorized to use any means necessary to do this, so you two might really want to consider putting those weapons away. Now, you, come with us."

"No!" screamed Kaisa, putting her arm in front of her partner. "It's not what you think. He saved us. It was self-defense!"

The head guard pointed his weapon at Kaisa. "Alright. We gave you all the chance to stand down. Suppression Team, you are cleared to attack."

He and the rest of the guards all fired on the three mages. Kaisa and Arin put up a shield to protect the three of them. As Kaisa held her ground, she looked to her left at her still-frozen partner.

"Bathory, I don't understand this. I don't know why they won't listen to us. But you need to get out of here."

"I can't!" he yelled back. "What about you two? And what about me? Where will I go?"

"Anywhere's better than here. You can't let them do this to you."

"But again, Kaisa, what about you? What are we going to do?"

"They'll listen to us. I know they will. I'll make them!" She held her device forwards and fired an attack at the guards, clearing some of them out by the door. "Go!" she yelled again to her partner. "Get out of here."

Finally, Bathory understood that he had to escape. He clutched his device in his hand. "Aphelion, transform and activate Flight Driver."

[**UNDERSTOOD, MY MASTER**]

As the guards kept firing on the shield, slowly breaking through, Aphelion formed itself on Bathory's arm and the green blade of Flight Driver stuck out of the side. Trying not to think about how much he was leaving behind, he ran forward and soared along the ground, barreling past the guards by the door. He kept going through the hallways of the TSAB building, hearing some of the guards running after him, trying to take him down. Eying a large window, Bathory flew straight for it and crashed through it, immediately beginning to fall down to the ground a couple stories below.

He hit the ground and rolled over to see some of the officers staring out of the window at him. They left from the window, obviously going to try to set up blockades somewhere in the city. Bathory rolled back over and sped off with Flight Driver through the city. As he raced down a long road, he heard Kaisa's voice calling to him.

_"Bathory, get as far away from here as you can. Like I said, I'll try to clear your name."_

_ "Kaisa, they want me dead! How did this ever happen?"_

_ "I don't know. I can't believe any of what has happened. But you need to stay away. Arin and I will make sure this is all resolved."_

_ "Okay. I'll try to stay in touch. Contact me if you need anything."_

_ "I will. And Bathory? I love you."_

Bathory felt the wind rush across his face as he tore further across the city. So many things were on his mind, and so few of them were positive. It would have been very easy for him to get overwhelmed that first night, and to already give up hope. But there was one thing that kept him going at least a little while more.

"_I love you too, Kaisa. You're right - this will all be resolved soon enough."_

* * *

_._


	16. Semper Fidelis Part 1

**A/N: **About the chapter: 16,420 words. That is how long this chapter is. And I am, of course, hoping that it is the greatest, most awesome, most intense, most climactic battle I could have delivered. If I'm not too arrogant, I'm hoping this is also like one of the greatest Fate vs. anyone battle you've read, and if there's one better, I'd love to read it and compare :). I never really thought about my "favorite character" from the series, but I guess it kinda has to be Fate after all this.

I was originally going to just put this up as one chapter, but previewing it here, just looking at my scroll bar made me want to die. So, to help out, I have not only split the chapter in half so they're both now average-me-chapter length, but I've added 'checkpoints' I guess you could say in the form of line breaks. They're not really cutting in between different scenes, but the line breaks do segment off the various "phases" of the chapter I guess you could say. Yes, I am very proud of myself, but I seriously think this is, like, a good-ass chapter.

So here we go! Everything comes to a head! If you want to know my BattleTunes(TM) playlist, I'd suggest Rift by The Circle Ends Here, Nicolas by Amia Venera Landscape, and maybe the song by Amber that's quoted below this. WARNING: THEY'RE ALL HEAVY

* * *

_Go ahead  
and spoil the end for me  
no more tears, no more lies  
for all I know, it was carved in stone  
since the beginning_

Amber - More Than We Can Bear

* * *

June 3rd, 0076  
Victamius  
7:30 AM

The sun had risen, but it was shrouded by thick clouds and a light mist that coated the streets of Victamius. There was very little traffic on the roads, and the only cars that drove by were early morning commuters and police cars, still searching the area for one fugitive mage that was somewhere inside the city. As one of the cars passed by a nondescript apartment complex on the southern side of the city, the man in question gazed out of a window at it.

Bathory Kardenis hadn't slept. He'd rested next to Efra for hours as she eventually fell asleep, then he had move up to the couch for the rest of the time, but he never even tried to sleep. Far too much was on his mind for him to have been able to. Every past event that had bounced around in his head since the incident continued to bounce around, but none of them hit him as hard as they had before. From the raid playing out again in his mind, to Kaisa's last conversation, to him holding a girl's head in the sand, and even to watching Fate T. Harlaown - an Ace of all people! - lay there still as a building came down on her. None of it bothered him as much this morning as it did before, because none of it was going to matter soon anyways. Bathory knew that by the end of the day - and probably within an hour or two - he would be dead, and he would be free.

Very rarely do people ever smile at their upcoming, violent death, but Bathory was smiling. He was smiling and his body was calm. Like he said, if he had to go out early, he wanted to go out fighting on his own terms. Never would he allow himself to be held against his will and slowly be worn down for others' amusement.

Behind him, Efra had woken up, and slowly rose to her feet. Timidly, she approached the man who had his back to her.

"Are you...going?" she asked, holding Bathory's arm with her own.

"I think so" he replied. "Nothing else can be done. There's no sense waiting any longer."

"Well, then one more thing" said Efra, and Bathory looked over at her. She paused before finishing her line. "I...I still just...I still just don't know what to think."

"About what?" Bathory gazed down at her, confusion in both their eyes.

"A...about...about you." Efra quickly looked away, as if she was suddenly ashamed. "I mean, you were there with...with Yautja, always doing things behind my back, always acting like someone else. But...but also..."

"Efra?" asked Bathory, cutting her off. She quit speaking and waited for him. "Pretty soon, I'm going to leave this apartment, and I'm never going to come back. This will be the last time you see me. Now how does that make you feel?"

"I...uh..."she stammered. "I...it...I feel..."

"Here," tried Bathory again, "after this, I'm going to go out that front door, close it behind me, and that will be it. Do you want that to happen? Do you want me to get out already?"

This time, Efra's reaction was immediate. "No! No!" she said, shaking her head back and forth. "I don't want you to!"

Bathory smiled again and patted her. "Then I think you know what to think. And so do I." He released her, and headed across the room to the door. "You can watch the news and follow the reports if you want, but... I don't think you should."

Efra remained by the window, head down. "O...okay..."

"And Efra," added Bathory, "pass your examination, please. I know you can do it. Now goodbye." He opened the front door to the Crawmer apartment, stepped out, closed the door behind him, and left. Not saying another word, he went to the stairs and walked down them all the way to the entrance to the parking garage. Still silent, he walked up the ramp and got outside into the misty air, wondering where he should go. He knew how his last battle would end, but he didn't know how it would start. Finally, he shrugged, turned to his left, and began to walk in that direction. Again, very few cars drove by, and those that did were mostly police cars. Out of his barrier jacket, Bathory's clothes didn't exactly give himself away, and so he was able to keep walking.

In preparation, he kept his left hand in his pocket, holding his five remaining cartridges from last night. His right hand again clutched the standby form of his device.

"Well, Aphelion," he said to the gem, "this is it. It's been a great partnership, hasn't it? You've stayed with me through everything, from the first time dad let me hold you to...uh...to today." He chuckled and turned away for a second before looking back. "You know, you've gone through a lot of things being with me. You're hardly the same device as you were when dad used you. But you never complained about any of it."

[**I HAVE ALWAYS MADE SURE THAT I COULD SERVE ALONGSIDE YOU, MY MASTER**]

"Yeah, but... remember when we were all introduced to the cartridge system? Oh, that was a blast trying to get that working, wasn't it? And then all the other tweaks along the way. But still, I wonder how you expected your life to go. Were you hoping for me to pass you down onto my own kid? Well, you were probably hoping for anything other than how this has ended up. I asked you before where you'd like to go when I die, and I want to know what your answer is. Again, maybe they won't destroy you as well."

[**MASTER**] flared the device, [**I STAND BY MY PREVIOUS WORD - I WOULD GIVE MY LIFE TO PROTECT YOURS**]

"But Aphelion," said Bathory, "I don't want you to. I don't. I...I order you not to destroy yourself over me. I can't imagine what I'd do if they kept me alive, especially if I didn't have you. I'm a lost cause, but maybe someone will take sympathy on you. Even if your memory gets wiped, I'd prefer you continue on. You won't save anything if you take one for me."

The device was quiet for a few seconds as it processed this request, but it finally answered back.

[**I UNDERSTAND - I WILL STILL PERFORM TO THE BEST OF MY CAPABILITIES AS YOU ASK ME TO**]

"Of course" his master said, grinning. "I'm still going to make them fight for it." He continued walking for a while, and the traffic stayed the same. More patrol cars drove by Bathory, but he didn't seem to have been noticed yet. From looking around, he couldn't detect any parts of a TSAB-coordinated ambush either. Finally, he looked back down at his device.

"Aphelion, I know there's something you've been wanting to say. Go ahead."

The green gem pulsed slightly in his hand. [**I AM WORRIED ABOUT YOUR STRENGTH, MASTER - YOU ARE ONLY OPERATING AT 80 PERCENT OF YOUR MAXIMUM CAPACITY**]

"It doesn't matter at all what I could be doing. It just matters about what I am doing."

As he said that, a plain car drove past the mage, but slowed long before the next intersection. Looking up at it, he saw the driver looking intently at him before diverting his head.

[**MASTER, I BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN NOTICED**]

Bathory sighed. "Yep, I think so too." He walked further up the sidewalk, past the intersection. He looked out of the corner of his eye to the left, and saw another man standing around, acting like he was on his comms device. As he did that, he looked out of the corner of his eye at the target, tracking him discreetly. Bathory knew from when he took part in these kinds of operations that both the driver of the car and the man on the sidewalk were there as stakeouts. It had begun.

"Get ready, Aphelion" said the mage, quickening his pace. "We're about to start very soon." He kept walking along, but in front of him, two people wearing regular, plain clothes stepped out of a store onto the sidewalk. One of them stayed right by the store while the other one went to the other side of the sidewalk. They began to walk towards Bathory, and as he tried to push past them, they both grabbed one of his arms.

"Bathory Kardenis, you're coming with us" said one of the two. "If you will allow yourself to come quietly, then we will proceed over to the nearest-"

Waiting for the right moment, the mage finally interrupted them. "Aphelion, Razor form!" he shouted.

[**UNDERSTOOD**]

Raising his hands out of his pockets, Aphelion transformed and the spikes shot up out of the right side. The officer to his right dodged back out of the way, barely avoiding them. Bathory followed up by yelling "Razors, activate" and swinging his weapon over to the mage on his left side. The officer shielded the attack, but Bathory kept the blades against the shield and pushed the officer up against the wall of the store. Quickly, the shield had been broken through and the attacker grabbed the man, spinning around and holding him like a hostage in front of the other officer. She kept her device aimed forward, but forced herself not to launch any attacks.

Up the street, four other officers poured out from some parked cars. Bathory looked at them, looked back at the mage in front of him, and shot her while pushing the man he was holding forwards. As they collided and stumbled, Bathory said "Aphelion, Fight Driver!" The spikes retracted temporarily, and he flew across the ground over to the group, changing into his barrier jacket as well. Bathory slid into the closest one, knocking him off balance, and then quickly formed a shield for everything that came his way. He rushed over to the next closest one, and the blade for flight retracted as the spikes came back out. Razor form cut through that man's defense as well, and Bathory got a couple shots in before putting his shield back up.

"Aphelion," he said, "back to standard form, full auto."

The spikes retracted once again, and Aphelion shot out a consistent stream of energy blasts. Alternating back and forth between the other two, Bathory got their defenses down. He backed up from the whole group, getting them all in front of him. He set up an attack, and the green triangle formed under him.

"Sunburst Forward Lock" he shouted, and his device echoed the same thing. The firing ports all rose up at an angle, but stayed mostly forwards. When Bathory fired, he sent out bursts from each port that aimed themselves directly at the four in front of him. They slammed through any shields that were left, and the four tumbled down.

Energized, Bathory turned around, reactivated Flight Driver, and took off. Avoiding ground fire, he scaled up a nearby building and set off down the road, dodging attacks that were sent from below. He didn't really have any rhyme or reason to his plans at the moment; he just wanted to use everything he had.

[**WARNING**] said Aphelion, [**INCOMING AERIAL FIRE**]

Bathory quickly grinded to a halt, narrowly avoiding a beam of energy that came down from above him. He sped off again, pushing in the direction of the center of the city, and the aerial mage followed him. Soon, other flight officers joined up, and Bathory had to dodge attacks from several devices, as he had done a few days ago with Arci. Without having the boy as excess weight, the ground mage could take much sharper turns and more erratic paths, which he used to stay out of the officers' reach as he formed an attack plan.

"Aphelion," he yelled over the wind, "any suggestions? I'm not sure my potshots are doing much."

[**I SUGGEST YOU GROUP THEM TOGETHER AND ATTEMPT TO TAKE OUT MULTIPLE TARGETS AT ONCE**]

Bathory was still focused on dodging the officer's attacks, but he had listened to his device. "I'll see what I can do" he said. "But I've never really ever gone against a group of air mages alone before." Continuing to launch through the city, he focused as best he could on thinking a few steps ahead of the other side. Finally, when he hit the side of an extremely tall building, he saw his opportunity. He raced up the building, cutting into massive glass windows and rising above the air mages. He halted at the very top and the officers flew in to potentially surround him. Again, timing it perfectly, Bathory waited for the group to get near him before suddenly flipping over and rocketing back down the building.

Looking behind him, the air mages all followed him downwards, lining themselves up against the side of the building. Bathory turned back to the rapidly approaching ground, and waited until the last possible second to slow down some, flipping back over and landing on one knee on the ground. His body jolted from the extreme deceleration, but it didn't faze him for long. He reached for one of the cartridges as he looked back above him.

"Aphelion, load caaaa..." He stopped as he saw a huge ball of energy high above him being formed. The aerial mages had cleared out of the way, and Bathory could only expect that the ball would be heading straight towards him. Indeed, soon there was the sound of the attack being fired, and it went bearing down right at the ground mage who stared up at it. He quickly jammed his device back into the wall of the building and shot out of the way over the attack. It crashed against the ground, kicking up an explosion and jolting Bathory backwards.

When the smoke cleared, the ground mage was standing back up, staring high above him at the speck of a person he could see up in the air. He could tell it was one of the units who had fired down at him during last night's raid.

"Fucking air mages..." he muttered, looking disdainfully up at the officer who probably thought she was completely safe from retribution.

Back in Siba Capital, when Bathory was an officer of the TSAB, he was probably tougher and more powerful than most - perhaps all - of the criminals his squads would go after. And even when he was on the run, his usual battles were either still against low level criminals, or against the average mages of the TSAB. He didn't know if any of them approached the double A rank that he was, but he had managed to keep escaping capture this long, so the answer was probably no. But here, the best that the TSAB had to offer was out in force to take him down, and that meant that A ranks, AA ranks, even possibly AAA ranks would be his enemies. And, of course, that Ace from last night as well...

Bathory cracked his next back and forth. "Well," he told himself, "they're scare to overexert themselves and let me get away. But I'm not!" Still staring high into the air at the one officer, an insane idea planted itself in his head, and on any other day he would never have considered it. However, on this day, he had nothing to lose. "Aphelion, make me go as fast as you can."

[**I WILL DO MY BEST**]

Bathory dug the energy blade into the building again, and stared at the air mage who floated above him. "Alright, Aphelion," he yelled, "here we go!" He pushed off the ground and flew up the building, accelerating faster and faster as more of his reserves was put into the flight. The other air mages he had originally wanted to fight were waiting about thirty stories off the ground, and they all prepared their own defenses as Bathory raced towards them. Instead, Bathory went straight past them and kept angling himself towards the other mage that was above everything else. Travelling extremely quickly, Bathory reached the top of the building and flew up above it on a direct course with the AST officer. The mage was not expecting this at all, and was caught completely off guard as the fugitive slammed into her and held on.

She grunted from the heavy impact and was knocked out of flight, and the two of them entered free-fall, falling to the ground below. The air mage twisted in Bathory's arms, but she didn't have the spell or the strength to break loose.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled. "Are you insane?"

"I might be" her attacker responded. "I just might be."

"Well, if you think I'm forced to break our fall, think again! I'll let us hit the ground, if that's what it takes to stop you."

"Sorry, but I wasn't planning on that" said Bathory, and he repositioned himself in the air so his feet were on the air mage. He bent his knees and jumped off of her, blasting her with Aphelion as he did so. She flew away from him as he fell near a building and dug Aphelion back into it, changing his momentum to go sideways and fly down the streets again. The air mage, meanwhile, was rapidly approaching the ground.

[**FALL CONTROL**] said her device, and several magic circles formed below the mage, compressing together and taking in the energy from her fall as she slowed down more and more. She came to rest on the last platform, a few feet from the ground.

Bathory looked behind him and saw some of the air mages rush over to the one he'd attacked, checking on her. They were now off his tail, but the ground forces had set back up, and he had to continue dodging the attacks from below as he went down the street. As he came up to an intersection, high resistance in front of him and to the left forced him to go right and head down that way. Up in front of him, in another intersection, there was more heavy resistance that would force him to go left. In between them, Bathory stopped moving, realizing what was going on.

"Wait a minute...I'm getting boxed in!"

He swung his other wrist gauntlet into the wall and turned around, ready to go back the way he came, when an attack from one of the air mages that followed him hit him dead on. Bathory flew off the wall from the impact and went falling to the street. As he did, he grabbed the cartridge he'd been holding earlier. "Aphelion, load cartridge" he said, finishing his command, and he jammed the cartridge into his device as he plummeted to the ground in between the two blockades. As soon as he could, he raised his device in the air.

"Dispel bindings!"

Multiple bindings from multiple mages formed around Bathory and closed in on him, but before they could reach him, Aphelion launched out a shockwave of magic that destroyed them all. Bathory got back to his feet as the spent cartridge was ejected, and he looked all around him as he was surrounded on all sides. There was a bit of tense silence at the standoff. Both sides seemed to be waiting for the other to make a move.

From the barricade in front of him, First Lieutenant Satel Moraine stepped to the front of it with a megaphone in his hand. "Bathory" he said into it. "You are continuing a fight that you cannot possibly win."

Bathory grabbed the four remaining cartridges. "Aphelion," he whispered, "let's just load them now." The chamber opened up, and he began inserting them.

Satel continued. "Just walk over here real slowly with your hands up and your device in standby, for your own sake. Otherwise, we're going to have to keep this up."

The other man finished loading the four cartridges for later use. He looked up at Satel, defiant. "I'm not going to stop" he shouted. "And I don't know where you want me to go, but wherever it is, I'm not going there!" As he finished, he dug Aphelion into the street and charged right at the barricade in front of him.

Satel's eyes opened wide. "Bathory," he said, growing worried as the speeding mage approached him. "Don't you dare-"

Bathory wasn't slowing down, and Satel finally dropped the megaphone to put a shield up in front of him. The rest of the mages also braced themselves for impact, but to their surprise, Bathory just flew right past them, avoiding the barricade. As the renegade took off into the distance, Satel watched him go and grabbed his radio.

"Negati," he said, "we failed to contain him."

"It's alright" said the other Lieutenant's voice in response. "Enforcer Harlaown will cut him off. Fate?" she asked over the channel, "Are you ready to get him?"

Even higher above the city than the other mages had been, Fate looked down at the streets and followed her target's signature. She had recovered somewhat from the events of last night, but the cut along her side still hurt and her linker core hadn't fully rested enough. Still, she was set on finishing her job today. "I have my eyes on him," she replied, "and I am in position."

"Then we'll leave it up to you. All units under Satel and I, pull back. Do not engage the target - I repeat, do not engage the target."

* * *

Past the barricades, Bathory certainly noticed that the attacks on him began to cease. He also noticed that the TSAB opposition seemed to wane as he got further into the city. Confused, he went back down to ground level and stopped. It was him alone on the street, and in whatever direction he looked, he didn't see anyone. Nervously, he laughed.

"Aphelion, did I...did I escape?"

[**I CANNOT DENY THAT THEY HAVE DECREASED THEIR EFFORTS TO APPREHEND YOU**]

The ground mage laughed again. "But did I really escape? I couldn't have. Also, I didn't actually think at all about what I'd do if this happened. I kind of, well, assumed I'd lose. Be ready to dispel any more bindings, I guess, if this is just a tri-"

His sentence was cut off by a woman slamming down into the ground in front of him, kicking up an electric shockwave and releasing a bright light. Bathory shielded his eyes, but found himself momentarily blinded. When his vision finally cleared up, it revealed a woman with blonde hair, a black barrier jacket with a white cape, and her weapon held out to her side.

The ground mage stared at her, unable to believe it. "Fate?" he asked. "So...so you didn't die?" He began to feel somewhat relieved.

"Bathory Kardenis, my orders are to bring you in" said Fate, holding Bardiche diagonally against her front. "However, I have my doubts. I want to ask you a few questions, and I hope you can answer them. January twenty sixth of last year - Breach Team 03 was part of a raid on the Grand Meridian to recover an order of live weapons. But some time during it, something went wrong. You ended up shooting your Captain with one of the weapons, and that ended up being fatal. Captain Marcus Shuftan died in the basement of the hotel."

"Great" said the ground mage, raising his voice. "Perfect. That's exactly right. I told you I killed him. Everyone knows I killed him. Now where are you going with this?"

Fate remained extremely serious, as she usually did during confrontations. "I have my doubts about the official reports of the incident. You're the last remaining person who was there and clearly remembers it. What happened that night, in the basement? What really happened?"

Bathory was taken off guard by her questions, and he took a second before answering her. Part of him wondered why she was asking him these questions, and wondered whether he should tell the truth. However, that was buried deeply by his tired wish for everything to just be done with. "What do you think happened?" he finally responded, thrusting his arms out to the side. "I took one of the weapons and I shot him over and over again. That's what they said, and it's the truth. They said I was a threat, didn't they? That I have to be stopped before I can do it again. I tried my hardest last night, but I guess I underestimated you."

Fate raised her voice a little. "Bathory, don't even say that. You didn't intend for that to happen. Quit lying to me - I want to help you."

"Bullshit do you want to help me!" he spat. "How do you intend to help me? If you turn me over, they'll kill me themselves. And if they don't, they'll lock me in some small room off in some random corner of some prison colony for the rest of my life. Nothing you want to do will 'help' me."

"No. I am not going to let that happen to you" Fate replied. Her annoyance at his unwillingness to listen began to show through. "None of that is going to happen, but first, you need to listen to me."

"Well, I'm not a pre-battle speech kind of guy" said Bathory, readying his weapon. "If you're here to beat me down, then let's both just get it over with." He charged the Enforcer, setting up an attack.

Fate took a deep breath through her nose, watching the reckless charge of the other mage with disappointment. She had hoped that he would at least hear her out a bit without her having to force him to. She continued to let the man run at her, and then right before he fired, she flew straight up in the air. His blast sailed off at nothing and his head followed the Enforcer, watching her hover above the ground.

"Oh, come back down here. What, are you afraid?" the ground mage taunted. He stared at her, and she stared back at him. Fate stayed silent as she opened her left hand to reveal a small device. Making sure Bathory saw her holding it, she activated it and a blue barrier shot out of it, rushing far past the ground mage and expanding out as it did so. It went out a couple city blocks in every direction before stopping and enclosing the two inside it. Bathory looked straight up, and the barrier even formed a ceiling high in the air to make sure the mages stayed inside it. Fate held on to the device, making sure that the barrier would only go down when her target had lost the battle.

From inside the arena, a message was broadcasted loudly from somewhere. "Attention citizens," it said, "please remain indoors until all outside activity has ceased and the barrier is lowered. Again, please remain indoors for the duration of this event."

"Bathory" said Fate, and the ground mage turned his attention back to her. "I don't know why you're acting like this, and I don't know why you won't let me help you."

"Because you can't help me" he replied. "I don't even know what you're asking for. But anyways, let's just get going. Your move first, Enforcer."

Fate began the battle as she did last night. "Plasma Lancer" she said, and now twelve arrows of energy formed in a ring and circled vertically around her. They followed her gaze down to the ground mage, who had already decided that shielding all twelve wouldn't be the best idea. Quickly looking over at the nearest building, he sprinted for it, ready to dig his device into the wall. He did so, and boosted up to Fate's level. She continued to watch him, and the ring turned so that the shots once again faced the man.

"Fire."

The arrows all launched themselves at Bathory, and he quickly took off sideways out of their way, expecting them to crash into the wall. However, before they got there, Fate looked at her opponent's new position and said "Turn." The arrows curved in midair to head back over to Bathory, and he quickly pushed off the building, heading back across the street.

"Turn."

Bathory looked back, watching the projectiles reorient themselves again. He stopped for a moment, looking back at the Enforcer who cast them. "Oh, I see" he muttered and sped off towards the edge of the arena, now with a plan in mind. He stood next to the light blue barrier and spun around, watching the blasts close in on him. Then, as they all packed together, Bathory ran forward and cut back into the ground, speeding under the ball of arrows.

"Turn" Fate barked again, but only a few of the arrows had room to do a complete 180. She lost six of them to the barrier or to the ground, and now only half of them continued to follow the other mage as he rocketed back towards her. Bathory looked back one more time to see if they were still following him, and changed his path so he went over to a building and went up it while going down the street. Then, he pushed off it and lunged straight at Fate, hoping to hit the Ace with her own attack.

Unfortunately for him, she was smart enough to see this coming and grabbed him before he could grab her. Spinning around and keeping the man's high momentum going, she threw him down onto the road. Bathory hit the ground with such force that the road developed tiny little cracks where he had hit it, and then he looked back to see the persistent arrows heading for him anyways. Quickly, he aimed Aphelion at them and tried to shoot down all six, but they came at him so fast that one of them got through. It hit him, and he felt an intense electric shock along with the regular pain. The ground mage winced as he jumped to his feet, thankful that he hadn't been hit by all twelve shots.

The two exchanged glances again, and Bathory knew that if he was to put up much of an offence, he had to get her out of the air. Quietly, he whispered to his device.

"Aphelion, set up a charged multi-shot." Aphelion silently began to charge, and Bathory turned his arm back towards the ground so Fate couldn't see the front of his device. "Alright, Fate," he taunted, "I'm pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to go. You want a redo, huh? You want to try that again?"

Fate wasn't fazed by the taunting. That never really affected her unless it was on a deeply personal level. She decided another volley could only wear her target out more as he tried dodging around it, so she complied. "Very well. Plasma Lancer" she said, and twelve more arrows formed around her. She raised Bardiche and brought it back down for dramatic effect.

As she did so, Bathory's shot finished charging, and he swung his weapon up to shoot at her. They both screamed "Fire" at the same time. Fate realized a split second into her command what Bathory was doing, and her eyes opened wide as the charged shot flew out of her opponent's device, up in between the pellets of her attack and hit her dead on. She cried out as she was knocked out of her perch and fell to the ground. Her attack now flew down unguided, and Bathory raced under the shots over to the Enforcer, letting them impact the ground behind him.

Fate flipped over in the air and landed on her feet. "Bardiche," she ordered," Haken form!" Her device echoed her words, and once again the head of it flipped up and allowed the yellow scythe to form. Her target continued running and fired a few shots at her. She shielded them, and ran forwards as well to meet the ground mage in the middle. Fate swung at him repeatedly, first causing Bathory to dodge back and then causing him to keep retreating as he tried not to get hit. Between swings, he kept trying to shoot at her, but he could only manage one or two shots each time before having to duck or jump away. Finally, Fate lunged forwards more than Bathory thought she would, and she connected the scythe with his body. He gasped, feeling that same electric shock surge through him, and also felt the front of his barrier jacket take a beating.

Fate raised her device back to swing again, but as she brought it out, Bathory did a risky move and stepped forwards into her swing. He brought his left arm up to grab Bardiche's handle as its blades of energy went cleanly behind him, and he jammed the front of his device into her stomach. Again, he wordlessly fired his weapon into Fate and sent her reeling back, the front of her barrier jacket now also showing signs of wear.

"Clamp bind" she heard her opponent say, and she got her footing only to feel herself being lifted off the ground and being squeezed in place. She quickly looked down at the green rings which formed tightly around her before looking back up. Bathory held his hand up for her to see and he clenched it again, balling his fist up tightly. As he did that, the bindings also grew tighter and Fate let out a quiet gasp as they dug further into her skin and she bared her teeth. Then, her opponent raised his device.

"Flechette Prison!"

To add to her bindings, a green crystal appeared around Fate that also worked to trap her where she was. Bathory walked over to her and continued playing up his aggressive persona. "I know it seems a bit...I don't know, angry's not the right word...either way, let's see how long you hold on." Aphelion had finished setting up its shot, and the ground mage held it at the crystal, again pointed right at Fate.

"Fire."

The attack shot through the crystal, hit the Enforcer trapped inside, and burst apart. The sharp pellets began their show of ricocheting around in a chaotic display, striking Fate and cutting into her across her body in a random display. She twisted against her bindings during the attack, trying her hardest to get away.

Bathory watched his attack go on and looked back down at his device. "Aphelion," he told it, "charge another multi-shot."

The attack went on for several seconds until the pellets and crystal ran out of energy and dissipated. Left behind where they were was an Enforcer still trapped by the green rings around her. Panting, she stared her opponent down as the front of his weapon glowed with the shot that he was charging.

Bathory stood there, wondering if he should taunt her again. He never had many opportunities to do that in his battles because there was never the time to. His missions on the TSAB usually meant he'd dispatch someone as soon as possible and move right on to the next person. And once he was running from the TSAB, catching an opponent in a position like this meant it was time to either run away or, again, get them out of the equation. In this moment, however, he had the perfect opportunity to push Fate on like a masochist.

"Is this really it? Is that the best you can do? If so, then that's pitiful. I can't imagine what I'd do on Midchilda if I ever got to go there - maybe I should take your place. Maybe I should kill you now."

"Bathory, I know you don't mean any of that" said Fate. "I know you don't want to kill me. So why are you even saying that?"

The ground mage smirked. "This isn't the fight I expected you to put up. I just can't believe how weak you really are. You know, back in Siba Capital, we all agreed that Midchildan officers are just so...passive in everything they do. Sure, you may have 'unmatched power', but then you all just sit on it. A Siban has a hundred times the heart, the will, the strength and the determination than you could ever have. It's pathetic, really - truly fucking pathetic, and I believe I'm demonstrating that to you quite well." Aphelion had finished charging, and Bathory aimed it at Fate, waiting to fire.

The ground mage's words did their job, and Fate began to feel genuine anger towards him. Her eyebrows lowered, her fists closed tightly, and her whole body shook under her new rage. She closed her eyes and pushed as hard as she could against the bindings, now truly giving it everything she had. With her final push, the rings broke violently, and she almost roared as she flew forwards, holding her device in both hands above her head and bringing it down on Bathory in a powerful swing.

Her opponent had technically asked for that to happen, but he was still caught by surprise from this turn of events and he was barely able to protect himself. He put up a shield that was more the equivalent of covering his face with his arms, and the scythe swing tore through it. When Bardiche slammed into his body, it launched him backwards violently.

"Haken Saber!" Fate screamed before Bathory even hit the ground again. She wound her device back up and swung it again, releasing a spinning arc of yellow energy at the man. Bathory hit the ground and began to slide on his back, and as he did so, he aimed Aphelion, with the charged shot still ready, at the attack heading towards him. He fired at it and his shot intercepted Fate's, destroying them both in an explosion.

Fate continued to stare daggers at her target, and she held her weapon behind her again. She stood like she was at the starting gate of a race, and yelled "Overdrive - Shin Sonic Form!" Her barrier jacket changed in a quick flash of light to its other form, where she sacrificed much of her defenses for absolute, unmatched speed. When that had finished, she dashed into the air and covered the distance between her and her opponent almost immediately. To Bathory's point of view, he finally settled on the ground only for Fate to appear right on him again, only stopped by a dark green barrier that his device had cast for him. After Fate tried her attack, she took off again, and Bathory lost sight of her before he could even try to follow her flight path.

Starting to feel a little tired, the ground mage got to his feet in the middle of the wide road and looked around him. Tense seconds went by as he kept turning slowly, trying to figure out where Fate had gone.

[**PROTECTION**]

Aphelion auto-casted another barrier, this time above Bathory. A split second after it went up, Fate slammed down into it and Bathory flinched away in fright. Again, as soon as her attack failed, Fate took off and disappeared from sight. With his heart racing, Bathory took deep breaths and tried to calm himself as he again did his best to locate where the next attack would come from. He was on edge and he felt like there was little he could do to gain the upper hand.

"Come on...come on...where are you?" he whispered uneasily. He continued to slowly turn, trying to find any hints for what was coming next.

[**PROTECTION**]

His device cast a shield behind him, saving him from another swooping attack. Fate took off again before the ground mage could even turn around. Alone he was in the middle of the road, and he turned faster now, screaming out at the Enforcer.

"Where are you? Where are you, Fate? Where are you coming from?"

In the space enclosed in the arena, there were plenty of buildings to hide behind. Bathory spun around quickly in the direction of every little sound he heard, expecting it every time to be a charging Enforcer. They never were though, and the seconds seemed to drag on unbearably.

[**PROTECTIO-**]

Aphelion went to cast another barrier to its master's left, but this time, Fate was a little too fast. Finally, Bardiche slammed into the ground mage at high speed, sending him flying back almost completely horizontally. He crashed through the glass windows at the front of one of the buildings and entered its interior, not stopping until he'd flown over the reception desk and left a crater in the back wall. He slumped to the ground and laid there on his back unmoving for several seconds.

* * *

[**MASTER**] his device finally asked, [**ARE YOU ALERT - PLEASE RESPOND**]

Bathory groaned in pain before finally rolling over and pushing himself up to his hands and knees. "Is this what getting run over feels like?" he asked before pain shot through him again and he fell to his elbows. He stayed like that for a bit, breathing heavily through his gritted teeth. After that, he got back onto his hands and looked over at the window he crashed through. He was alone in the lobby, and knew that if Fate hadn't followed him in by now, she wasn't going to. He smiled a bit as he got to his feet, enjoying a much-needed respite. Soon, however, his mind went back to the task of how he was going to at least put up a fight.

"Aphelion, what am I going to do? Not only does she hit like a truck, but there's no way I can keep up with her."

[**SHE HAS LOWERED HER DEFENSES GREATLY, MY MASTER - YOU MAY ONLY NEED TO HIT A COUPLE SHOTS TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE**]

"Alright, I'll work on that. I can handle this. At least, I hope I can." He walked back through the building and over the broken glass that now littered the floor. He saw his opponent outside, standing in the middle of the road, waiting for the break to be over. Bathory stepped back out through the window and walked out to the middle of the wide road as well so the two were opposite of each other.

"If you're ready to hear me out," said Fate, "I would be fine ending our battle here." She had calmed back down from earlier and was ready to offer the olive branch again.

Bathory laughed a bit. "What, soon as I get hit like that once, I'll want to give up? There's no chance of that and you know it. I'll only be done when I'm dead, and never before that."

Fate sighed a little and twirled her weapon around. "Well, if you're this set on continuing, then fine. I have no problems with it." Her opponent seemed to be deep thought, however, and she wondered if he was reconsidering her offer.

Instead, he was just trying to find the right words for what to say next. "You know...Fate...about what I said earlier...in the back of my mind, I always wondered what it would be like to fight someone considered 'the best of the best'. Really, to some degree, pretty much all Siban TSAB recruits wished they could battle one of the most powerful or most revered mages, just to see what the both of them could do. I mean, it's one thing to watch the recordings, but seeing it live - even if you're on the receiving end of it - is so much better."

Fate crossed her arms as she listened to him. Bathory seemed to be truthful, and seemed like he just wanted to get this off of his chest.

"Of course," he continued, "every girl still wants to be just like Nanoha by de facto or something, I don't know, but I remember that as we all got older, we all sort of settled on our 'dream opponent' if you will. I had a teammate name Arin, who...uh...who..." Bathory laughed again and shook his head. "...who said day in, day out, every single day that he wished he could take on Signum. And we all said 'Arin, if that ever happened, you would get your ass handed to you'. But, of course, while we said that, we also knew that in our dream fights, we'd all probably lose. But it didn't matter as long as we were treated to a show. Anyways, anyways," he said, speeding himself along, "I would think about what it would be like to fight you. You know, you're not afraid to fly in, get in people's faces - none of that bombardier shit that air mages like to do. And earlier, I guess I was just a bit worried that this wouldn't be what I thought it was going to be."

The Enforcer had waited patiently through all that. "I understand. And while I thank you for the compliments, I'm still of the opinion that this battle doesn't have to happen."

"No, it does, it does" the ground mage interjected. "I don't know about you, but I'm nowhere close to the end!" He ended the break and charged at Fate, pushing up on her. She stood her ground, holding Bardiche with both hands and winding it back again.

"Haken Saber."

She sent another arcing ring of energy forwards at Bathory. It flew at him, but he rolled out of the way and kept running as the attack soared behind him. It began to turn around like a boomerang, and soon it was bearing down again on its target.

[**MASTER**] said Aphelion, [**INCOMING FROM BEHIND YOU**]

Bathory spun around to dodge the blade again, but as it came in, Fate yelled "Saber blast!" at it exploded in front of him. Fate rushed in with her scythe again and the two repeated their dance, with Fate swinging at him over and over and Bathory dodging backwards, trying to get a shot in. If Fate was to break this little stalemate, she needed hit harder and hit faster, and so she halted for a bit in the road.

"Bardiche," she told it, "Riot Zanber Stinger." This time, her entire weapon glowed and transformed into two swords connected by a chain of energy. She held one sword in each hand and lunged back at her opponent. In an absolute flurry of movement, she swung the blades forward rapidly, not giving Bathory even half the opportunities he had before. Soon, Fate had backed him into a wall, and he was forced to shield the aggressive combos that pounded on his defenses. His shield was driven through more and more as Fate simply didn't let up. Finally, she went to end it with an overhand strike from both blades, and in that one second of freedom, Bathory put his device against the wall and screamed faster than he ever had before.

"Aphelion, Flight Driver! NOW!"

He took off from under her, heading sideways along the building while his arm felt like it was almost pulled from its socket. He closed his eyes for one more little moment of respite, but he heard something move through the air and opened his eyes to see Fate already on him again. She flew next to him, pounding on his shields again and making the ground mage quickly change direction. That whole part about Bathory needing to stay on the offensive just flew out the window, and he was a hundred percent concerned with just trying to get away from his pursuer. He changed his path repeatedly, but Fate kept up with him better than any air mage before her, and it was just a matter of time until she got through. After his best efforts at running away, Bathory's shield was ripped open and another strike from Fate knocked loose his device's grasp on the building. He flew like a bullet back to the ground, landing in a small gap between two of the buildings.

Fate followed him down and landed at the entrance to the alley. "Are you done yet?" she asked him.

Bathory shook his head and dismissed her. "Nope. Not done - I'm far from it. I've got plenty left."

"Fine. Very well then." Fate held both swords out in front of her for her opponent to see. "Bardiche," she ordered, "Riot Blade Calamity!" Both swords glowed brightly again and she jammed them together into one weapon. Soon a massive blade began to form from where the smaller blades had been. Her opponent stared up at it in awe. Sure, he'd seen it in pictures and recordings, but it was something that was truly much better when seen in person.

"Holy shit..." he mumbled, almost forgetting that he was supposed to be running from it. That came back to him though when Fate swung it down, the tip of the blade reaching all the way over to Bathory and landing between his legs. He began to scoot back real quickly then and got back up. In the narrow alley, Fate couldn't even try to swing her weapon side to side, and so she raised it high and brought it back down again, the tip of it still hot on her opponent's heels.

Fate backed him all the way out of the alley and back onto the street, where she could truly get some power into her swings. As soon as she had room, she swung Bardiche horizontally in a circle, spinning like a whirlwind and building up that power to tremendous levels.

"Aphelion!" cried Bathory, having lost all thought or plan of action. "Help me!"

Fate shouted her own battle cry as she dove forward to attack her target. With little magic defense left, Bathory did the literal version of putting his arms in front of his head and resigned himself to whatever would happen. Bardiche's blade hit its mark and tore through the barriers on Bathory's jacket. When it detected skin, though, it blunted itself so as not cut the man in half. Still, electricity still went into all of Fate's attacks, and her opponent felt a huge electric shock along with the regular energy from the swipe. Taking most of the swing's immense power, Bathory was flung to the side, landed on his back, skid away from Fate again, and lay there unmoving once again.

In the aftermath of that, there was relative quiet. Fate panted heavily and looked down the road at her opponent, waiting for him to show any sign of movement. Slowly, she headed over to him, letting her weapon drag against the ground behind her. Getting closer, she saw that Bathory's eyes were open, but he was doing nothing but staring up at the ceiling of the arena. His head rolled over to look at her as she came over, but he didn't try to get away. Or if he was trying, he was in such bad shape that his efforts produced unrecognizably small results.

Fate paused above him, waiting for her breath to catch so she could speak again. If this was the end of the fight, she'd be ready to tell Bathory what she'd been trying to get him to hear since the start of it. And if he couldn't interrupt her to tell her how hopeless it was or how little she could do for him, he'd have to listen. As two continued to look at each other, though, Bathory's device glowed and spoke up.

[**ACTIVATING INDEPENDENT MODE - AUTOMATIC ESCAPE COURSE ESTABLISHED**]

Aphelion channeled its master's energy itself and forced the blade of Flight Driver out and into the ground. Setting a location for the other side of the arena, it shot off, taking the ground mage with it. Fate watched him disappear behind the tall buildings. She could have followed him immediately if she wanted to, but if Bathory was at this state now, he probably wouldn't be recovering much. And so Fate waited where she was, letting the ground mage have a few minutes to himself.


	17. Semper Fidelis Part 2

Bathory slumped against a heating unit on top of one of the roofs and closed his eyes. By the time Aphelion had gotten him up there, he'd gained back the strength to sit up. Nothing more, though, and so he rested as he was.

[**MASTER**] said his device, [**I AM QUESTIONING YOUR DEVOTION TO YOUR CURRENT PLAN OF ACTION - I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU TRULY WANT TO DIE**]

Its master smiled. "You know what I'm thinking, don't you? I keep telling myself that this has to end like that, but like most things, it's easier to believe when you haven't yet begun to make it happen. At the start of this battle, I was all ready to die, but the closer I get, the less I want it. In the middle of all that, when I started losing badly, I...I got scared, and I thought about Kaisa. She just popped back in my mind. And I know she's waiting for me. But even with that, I wonder if I can't really find some way to escape. Maybe I could defeat Fate and use her to get away. Maybe I can find the strength to do that."

[**I BELIEVE THAT THINGS ARE NOT AS HOPELESS AS YOU THINK**]

"Yeah...I've still got a lot in me, or at least something in me, and I've still got the cartridges...but I don't know what to do. My defenses are just gone. Just torn away by now. In a way, it's kind of an equal match now, except Fate's still faster than me, still stronger than me..."

[**MASTER, IF YOU ARE NOT CONCERNED WITH DEFENSE, THEN YOU HAVE PLENTY OF OPTIONS STILL AVAILABLE TO YOU**]

That caused Bathory to chuckle. "Oh, Aphelion, do you really mean what I think you mean? I haven't even tried to do that since...well, since I was on the TSAB. I might be a little rusty."

[**I AM CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY TO HANDLE IT, MY MASTER - AND I SHALL ASSIST YOU ANY WAY I CAN**]

"Alright. Alright then, let's do it." Bathory got to his feet, ready to go all out in this final part of his battle. Either he would turn this around, win, and potentially save himself, or he would lose and his death would be guaranteed. Again, it was now almost easier to swallow knowing exactly what those paths came down to. "Come on, Aphelion. If you're ready, then I'm ready. Show her what you can do - Breach Form!"

[**TRANSFORMING NOW**]

Bathory would often keep his device either in its standard form or use Razor form when he needed those blades to cut heavy shields. However, along with those, there was a third form for when he absolutely needed to clear everything in his path. When things came down to a battle of power and nothing more, when mobility was only a minor factor, and when only Bathory stood in the way of whatever monsters were trying to destroy him, there was his device's Breach Form.

His device glowed, and it began to expand from being more like a sleeve around his right arm to being more of a cannon. A massive barrel jutted out under Bathory's right arm, and the steel-and-green-colored weapon grew backwards as well, forming the rest of the base. Soon, the mage's right arm had gone from being in the center of his device to simply having his arm strapped to the weapon at the top of it. From the bottom of it, a huge blade of energy formed where the small blade of Flight Driver usually was. Finally, a sideways handle jutted out of the left side of the device so Bathory's left hand could support it. When it was all said and done, the mage held a new weapon that was almost as large as he was, ready to put everything he had left into it. He stared across the arena, spurred on by new determination. Again, Kaisa entered his mind, and a short little memory played itself out.

"_And this, Kaisa, is what I've been working on."_

_ "Wooooow! Look at it. I know you told me what to expect, but still. What do you call it?"_

_ "Well, that's thing. I...uh...I don't really know yet. Nothing sounds good."_

_ Kaisa giggled. "What do you want to use it for?"_

_ "To protect you. Not just you - to protect everything that I hold dear to me."_

_ Kaisa giggled again and brought herself close to her partner. Their bodies touched, and she slowly ran her hand across his face. "How very noble of you. And who do you mean besides me? Do you mean Arin as well? Shuftan as well?"_

_ "Well, everyone around us, I guess - but especially you three."_

_ "Then let's see...how about...Breach Form? That way, you'll always remember who it's for."_

Bathory heard Fate land on the roof with him, and he turned to face her. She studied his weapon for a second before looking back up.

"I take it this means you want to keep going?"

"I don't know what will happen until the very end, so it's useless to decide now" said her opponent. "We're going to keep fighting until one of us can't fight anymore. And if it's me, then fine. At least I'd die by your hands, Ace Enforcer." He aimed Aphelion at Fate and supported it against him as he fired at her. She held her device's massive blade sideways in front of her to shield it, but the blast hit her harder than she thought it would, and it caused her to recoil back a little.

Fate raised Bardiche again and flew forwards to slam it into her opponent again. Bathory countered by raising his own weapon, and the dark green blade on the bottom of it clashed against the yellow blade of Bardiche. Again, Fate was surprised at the other mage's newfound power, and her guard went down for a single moment. In that moment, Bathory spun around himself, knocking Fate's weapon to the side and coming back around to slam his blade into her. Like he was with her attack, she was send backwards by the impact, falling off the roof and heading towards the ground below.

Bathory called for his device to prime another multi-shot and ran after the Enforcer. In its newest form, Aphelion was able to complete those charges at nearly double the speed as before, and the shot was ready for Bathory to fire before he even had the chance to do so. He aimed down at Fate as he started falling and fired at her. Fate recovered from the previous attack, but had only hovered for a little bit before she was forced to hold her sword in front of her again and let it take her opponent's attack. The knockback sent her crashing back to the ground, and sparks started shooting out of her device.

[**STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY IS AT 60 PERCENT, SIR**]

Fate jumped back to her feet as Bathory dug his blade into the wall, slowing his descent to the ground. He landed and stepped forwards, again holding his device in both hands. "Come on, Fate," he said, "the tides couldn't have turned that quickly now, couldn't they?"

"We'll see about that" she responded. "Let that happen again before you make judgments."

The ground mage stood tall, ready to truly go all out. "Aphelion, load cartridge. Give me the best that you can give. Omega Burst, set up." The Belkan triangle formed under him, and his device roared to life, sending out the preliminary homing pellets in every direction. They all flew far out of the way before closing back in on Fate. She watched them come closer, but had a gut feeling that those weren't her primary concern. As they came closer to her, she rolled out of the way to the side.

"Fire!"

Sure enough, a dark green beam of energy blew through the spot she had just been at. She looked back at the ground mage to see the Belkan triangle still under him and another burst being primed. She watched the small pellets fly out into the air again and curve back in on her, and she dodged to the side just like she did before.

"Fire!"

Another large beam whizzed past her side and impacted a building behind her. Bathory's device ejected the spent cartridge, and Fate stole a glance back at the building. The shot had blasted the wall open, and parts of the wall were strewn about nearby.

"Fire!"

Fate's head shot back in surprise, and she found herself directly in the path of a third oncoming blast. Panicking, she held Bardiche's blade in front of her again, and it took the entire brunt of the Omega Burst. A second cartridge was ejected from Aphelion as Fate was thrown backwards forcefully. This time, it was her that skid along the ground, ending up flat on her back.

[**STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY IS AT 45 PERCENT, SIR**]

"I know, I know, that was a little sloppy." The Enforcer got back up again, gripping her blade with both hands on the handle and holding it forwards in front of her.

Bathory approached her, talking to himself. "Two more..." he muttered. "Two more cartridges...what's the best thing to do with them?" Preoccupied, he didn't pay much attention to Fate glancing up at the roof of the arena and back down. She watched her opponent for a bit before bringing her left hand up and grabbing the barrier device from under her outfit. Fate held her arms out sideways and looked back up in the air. This time, Bathory did notice her odd behavior.

"Umm, Aphelion, what is she doing?"

A second later, the Enforcer answered him. "Thunder Fall!" she shouted to the heavens themselves, and Bathory looked above her to see if she was summoning anything. His eyes continued to be drawn upwards, however, by the realization that the ceiling of the barrier had disappeared. Not only that, but through the now open roof, he could see a massive yellow Midchildan magic circle drawing lightning from the clouds above. Those clouds that Bathory swore were only light gray before the battle were now deep gray and rumbling treacherously above.

A bolt of lightning flew down from above and struck the ground right in front of Bathory. He jumped back from it and looked back over at Fate. Her arms were back down at her body and she was staring intently at her opponent.

"You may want to start running."

Another bolt of lightning crashed down within feet of the ground mage, and he leapt away from that, almost heading into another bolt. Soon, lightning began shooting down all around him, and Bathory took Fate's advice to run. His device's blade cut the ground and he took off, dodging charges from above that kept nearly homing in on him but missing slightly. He made full use of the area as he flew up, over, down, and across the entire landscape, trying to outrun the attack that threatened to strike him down if he paused even for a second.

"Aphelion! Damn it! We were doing so well. I thought I had a chance!"

[**MASTER, IT APPEARS THA-**]

"I almost thought I had her. You know, I almost though I could escape."

[**MASTER**], the device tried again, [**I BELIEVE THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO - I AM DETECTING A WAY OUT OF THIS BARRIER**]

"Where?" asked its owner, almost angrily dismissing it. "What are you talking about? I'm trapped in here. It's locking me in on all sides, top and bo-"

Bathory froze mid-word and gazed back up at the dark clouds. The dark clouds that were above the barrier. Above the barrier which had no top. Instantly, the mage's expression turned upside down. "Aphelion" he now said with hope in his voice, "I don't know if I can get us that high, but if I can, then we'll need to work together. Are you with me?"

[**I WILL PERFORM TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES**]

Bathory continued flying across the buildings, trying to find the tallest one available. Locating it, he flew towards it and descended so he would be at the bottom of it. He reached the next building over and lunged for his runway, another arc of lightning hitting right behind him. Aphelion dug into the wall, and Bathory stared straight up it at the clouds above.

"Aphelion, this is it. I need you to go as fast as possible, alright? Put everything I have into the power of this flight."

[**UNDERSTOOD**]

"Okay. Flight Driver, go!" Bathory began to race up the side, travelling so fast that his face seemed to melt behind him and his eyes were propped open wide. All around him, lightning started to crash down rapidly, as if this unending attack against him knew what he was trying to do. Soon, he reached the top of the building and kicked off of it, traveling further up as well as out towards the barrier. He arced his head up as far as he could as he went nearly horizontal, seeing over the top of the barrier and out into the rest of the city.

'Come on. Just come on' he thought, reaching his arm out. He could see the other side clearly. He could see freedom, and he was already imagining storming through the Victamius streets, leaving his pursuers in his wake. Perhaps he would go to yet another city, or he would steal a ride on a ship to another world. Maybe he would travel across dimensions, going so far that General Parkensine, Enforcer Harlaown and the rest of the TSAB wouldn't even bother tracking him down. Maybe he would end up going to a random non-administrated world, as he proposed nights ago in the Crawmer Apartment. The edges of the universe would be his new barrier, and not the confining edge of the city or of this arena. He kept watching the city open up in front of him when the image was suddenly replaced with all white. Something was wrong, and soon Bathory's whole body felt like it was on fire. He opened his mouth and screamed, but it was silent compared to the shattering sound of the lightning that had struck his body.

White went to black, and Bathory fell. He fell straight down, back into the confines of the barrier and into the fray of the electric Enforcer. He fell as his eyes rolled back in his head and his mind raced with everything yet thought of nothing at the same time. He was heading down headfirst against the road, but the Enforcer who had done this to him was there in the air to catch him and bring him slowly back down. Fate dropped to one knee with her back to the barrier, setting her opponent down gently while keeping his head held up. Above her, the yellow circle in the sky disappeared, and the clouds quickly returned to their regular color. From the intensive battle, the air inside the arena was saturated with residual magic, and the two mages' bodies were subtly responsive to this secondhand power.

Fate, at least, certainly felt like she had recovered a little quicker than normal from her lightning barrage. She continued to rest Bathory's head in her right hand as the ground mage regained the ability to function. Bardiche had gone back into its Assault form, and it was held in her other hand. Fate addressed the other mage as his eyes came forwards again and the spasms across his body decreased in intensity.

"Bathory, I'm not going to turn you in. The Siban TSAB isn't going to even lay a hand on you. Do you hear me?"

Regaining his limbs, Bathory tried rolling out of Fate's grasp and getting back up. With his large weapon still attached to his arm, though, he was having some trouble. Fate was sure that he was ready to listen and helped the man up, offering the olive branch once again. When Bathory was standing, he looked at Fate and she smiled, holding her hand out at him. "Are you ready to come with me?" she asked, expecting him to take her hand and let her help him. He reached his free hand out as well, but instead of taking Fate's offer, he glared at her and curled his fingers.

"Clamp Bind."

Fate's smile dropped from her face as green rings again formed around her, pinning her arms to her body and pinning her body in place. A little bit of fear showed through as she struggled against the bindings.

"Bathory, let me go" she said. "I just want to help you. I don't want you to-"

The ground mage squeezed his hand shut again, and the rings buried themselves back into Fate. They seemed to cause her much more pain now than they did the first time Bathory had her like this, and her sentence gave way to screaming.

"Did you think that was it?" asked the other mage, dead serious. "Do you really think I'll take whatever offer you're giving me? I saw my freedom over the top of that barrier, and I'm going to get it. That's what I want to have now."

Fate replied by shouting at her target as forcefully as she could. "Bathory! I'm the only one on your side. Release me!" She panted as her chest was squeezed by the bindings, making it hard to even breathe.

Her opponent paid no mind to her as he looked down at his device. "Two cartridges, Aphelion. You think that's enough for a PMDR?"

[**EVEN WITH BOTH CARTRIDGES IN USE, YOUR LINKER CORE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT IT - HOWEVER, WITH THE RESIDUAL ENERGY THAT HAS BUILT UP, THAT SHOULD BE ENOUGH - BUT YOU WILL STILL BE ALMOST COMPLETELY DRAINED FROM IT**]

"I don't care, Aphelion. It'll get me what I need." He took a deep breath and back up a couple steps from the Enforcer. "I hope I can even remember what to say...it's been a while..."

Fate struggled against the rings, but this time, her best wasn't enough, even when she thrashed against them. She knew she was in an extremely bad spot, though - stuck in a bind, trapped in Sonic Form with her low defenses, and about to be hit with something that her opponent had been saving up for. "Bathory," she cried, futilely. "BATHORY, DON'T!"

The ground mage finished backing up and held his device at his target. "Aphelion, load the two cartridges" he ordered, and the green triangle appeared again under him. As he said the aria for the attack, three Belkan triangles also appeared vertically in front of him, ready to amplify his attack.

"For the dominion that I call my home, and for the things that I fight for. This spell will cut my opponent down and let me live another day, as a true Siban warrior will never die as long as he can fight! Go, Primum Mobile Dominion Ray!"

His voice crescendoed at the end, and the front of his device lit up with a massive beam of energy that was much stronger than anything else it could make. It was, in effect, his signature attack, and it made up for its slow casting speed by reaching all the way up into S class power under the right conditions. The beam shot forwards from the front of his device, passing through the Belkan triangles and heading over to Fate. It hit her, her eyes closed shut, and she began to scream from the pain. The attack broke through Bathory's own bindings, and it propelled the Enforcer backwards into the barrier that the two had been fighting in. As Bathory's attack kept going, the barrier itself began to crack, and finally that broke as well, sending Fate crashing outside of it.

Eventually, the onslaught ended, and Bathory immediately felt all the energy drain from him. He started to fall over and had to brace the front of his device against the ground and lean on it to stay up. The two spent cartridges were ejected out of his device, and the barrier, which now had a giant hole in it, started to break apart completely, phasing in and back out before shutting off for good.

* * *

The ground mage looked ahead in front of him. The rest of the city was open to him once again, and the Enforcer who had tried to stop him for good was laid out unconscious on the ground. He had the chance to escape! But his weakened legs could barely walk, and as he forced himself over to the body of his downed opponent, he came to the realization that he had nothing to actually escape with. He had spent everything he had just to get this far, but could go no further.

[**LINKER CORE LEVELS ARE CRITICAL, MY MASTER - I AM UNABLE TO CONTINUE IN THIS FORM**]

Bathory's device glowed and transformed back into the regular weapon that surrounded his lower right arm. This meant that he lost his walking stick, and Bathory fell over near Fate's body. While he was down, Fate's device said something about its structural integrity being severely low, and her earpiece flared up with chatter from the TSAB.

"The barrier has broken. I repeat, the barrier has broken." It was the voice of First Lieutenant Negati Winter, who had crossed paths with Bathory several times. "Fate, did you get him? Can we come retrieve him?" Of course, there was silence on Fate's end, and this seemed to scare the Lieutenant. "Fate? Please answer me. Oh no, no, no, not again! Everyone, get over to the Enforcer now."

Sirens again began to blare, and car after car of officers drove up the street to the two mages. They formed at the intersections in front of and behind Bathory, again blocking him in. He stood up, looking forward in a daze as officers crowded out of the cars and formed in a line, their weapons all aimed at him. Negati pushed through the line and stood in front of them.

"Bathory" she cried. "Get away from Fate. Don't even touch her!"

All the sounds around him, from the roar of the sirens all out of time with each other to the Lieutenant's fearful commands just seemed to blend together. He looked along the line of the barricade, taking in the barrels and firing ports of the officers' weapons. Again, he was too weak now to escape. Too weak now to fight through everyone in his way. He couldn't possibly get himself out of this. The choice was back to him either living on his knees or dying on his feet, and Bathory knew that was an easy decision to make.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and placed his left foot on top of Fate's head. He stood above his trophy like a hunter would with his kill and taunted the TSAB.

"Hey! Hey everyone - what makes you think you can tell me what to do?" His hands gestured wildly in front of him. "What makes you think you have what it takes to stop me? Look! Look at what I did to your Enforcer - to your Ace." He gestured down at the woman held under him and felt her head trying to move away. He looked down at Fate to see her weakly looking up at him.

"Bathory?" she whispered. That was as loud as she could go. "Why are you doing this?"

He ignored her and looked back up at Negati. "You know, that night, in the Grand Meridian, we all know what I did. No one needs to ask." Bathory continued to yell, gesture wildly, and act like he was an immediate threat as he took his foot off of Fate and headed over to the barricade. "But what you don't know is how much I enjoyed shooting him over and over again. It's an amazing feeling, watching someone die because of you." Tears started running down the mage's face as his lies almost seemed to get under his own skin. He knew he didn't believe it, but after spending so long telling himself he wasn't like what he was portrayed to be, simply imagining it and acting the part was almost too much. But if it would get under the officers' skins as well, it was worth doing.

Negati stood her ground. "Bathory, quit moving. Stay where you are."

Of course, he ignored her as well. "What? What are you going to do? I'm cold-blooded! I'm remorseless! What could you possibly do to me?"

Negati responded by holding her arm out and firing a red blast that hit the ground in front of the psychopathic mage. That caused him to freeze in place, and Negati quickly yelled out at him again.

"This is it, Bathory. If you take ONE MORE STEP FORWARDS, we are going to have to shoot. This is your last chance, do you hear me?"

Bathory heard her alright. He heard her clearly, processed her words, closed his eyes, smiled, and walked forwards again. Negati also closed her eyes.

"All officers," she said, "set up a kill shot. Fire on my command."

Behind her, the wave of mages all focused on channeling their energy for a lethal attack. Negati took one more deep breath, opened her eyes, and went to speak.

At the last second, however, she watched a yellow ball of energy hit Bathory in the back, causing him to shout in surprise and fall onto his stomach. When he fell over, he revealed that Fate was holding herself up with one arm and extending the other out in front of her. The yellow orb on the head of her device still glowed from the shot she had fired. Gasping, she pulled herself up and shuffled over to her target.

Negati watched Fate head over and held her own arm out, motioning for her officers to lower their weapons. "Fate?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

Every step she took was its own trial, but Fate made it over to the fallen mage. "Negati, please. Let me talk to him. He's innocent."

"Innocent? What do you mean?"

When Fate got to Bathory, he had put his arms against the ground and was trying to pull himself up. The Enforcer dropped to her knees and helped the ground mage do the same. Then, she held her free arm on his shoulder and made sure he was listening.

"Bathory, I think you have your reasons for what you did. I've seen what happened to your partners, and it's unfortunate that any of that had to take place. It's horrible what happened, and I'm sorry you had to watch Kaisa do what she did."

The ground mage's head slowly turned to face Fate's. "How do you...how do you know that?"

"Because I've seen everything I could see from before and after the raid. Kaisa and Arin said that you acted in self-defense, right up to the end. And I don't think they were lying. Please, Bathory, I need you to do something. I need you to tell me what happened."

The ground mage's expression changed, and he began to look more hopeful towards Fate. "Do you...do you really think that? That I had to...to..."

"Yes. Yes I do. I believe you. I believe that you'll tell me the truth."

Bathory looked shyly away. "Well, we were all together, in the basement. We found Shuftan in the middle of selling what we retrieved back to someone else. And when he knew we caught him, he...he...he tried to kill us. He had the weapon first. He was ready to shoot, but Kaisa forced it out of his hands. I picked up and...and I...I..."

"You saved your teammates' lives."

Bathory weakly nodded his head up and down. "Do you believe me, Fate? No one ever listened to us. They all thought I just...just did it for...for no reason."

Fate felt like a giant weight was lifted from her chest. Everything made more sense now. She couldn't make absolutely sure he wasn't lying, but she just had a feeling that he wasn't. "Then you didn't do anything" she said. "Then you were falsely accused. I still want to help you, Bathory. And by that, I mean that I'll make sure that no one puts their hands on you until the TSAB recognizes that. Until they apologize for this entire nightmare and allow you your freedom."

The ground mage closed his eyes and smiled again, but now he was embracing not death but the freedom he never thought he'd get back. "Fate, you...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever thought you were on their side."

The blonde Enforcer patted his shoulder, stood up, and turned around. "Negati, I'd like you to personally take Bathory and I back to the city's office. I have proof that he is innocent of his crime."

This still came as a shock to Negati. The man who'd been constantly vilified for so long was suddenly said to be innocent? It was almost too hard to believe. But Enforcer Fate Testarossa Harlaown was not one known to lie, and if she said that her target was innocent, the target of whom her mission was to track down and apprehend, then she must have some reason to believe that. There must be some truth behind the evidence she had. So in the end, Negati was still a little uneasy, but she would follow the Enforcer's request.

Fate looked back down at Bathory and offered her hand. "You won't be leaving my watch," she said. "And I promise that nothing will happen to you."

The ground mage looked up at Fate like she was an angel, and slowly took her hand. His grip was strong, though, and he trusted her to stick to everything she said. He got to his feet with the help of Fate, and was ready for this to be over.

A magic bolt blasted through the sky, its aim set on Bathory's chest. The ground mage had hardly even stood up when the bolt impaled him suddenly, tearing into him and lodging itself deep inside him. His eyes opened wide from the shock, and he began to slowly fall back down as blood rushed from the wound. Next to him, Fate froze, horrified, and she could only watch as Bathory slammed against the ground again. The ground mage gasped and choked from the blood now in his throat as his arms flailed at the bolt, clutching it and trying to pull it out of him until they would just fall back against the ground.

"BATHORY!" Fate cried, finding her voice. She dropped back to her knees and held the ground mage's head up, watching as he bled out uncontrollably.

Behind the barricade, General Parkensine stood with his device aimed in front of him. He saw that his bolt had been right on target, and he smiled as he pushed his way through the other mages. "Well, Enforcer," he said, walking over to the two, "that wasn't very hard, now was it?"

Fate sprung back to her feet, spun around, and yelled at the General. "Parkensine? What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm disappointed in you, Fate. What's with the sudden change of heart? Why have you decided to go soft on him?"

"Because, sir, he's innocent. I know he is! You can't kill him!"

Hearing that, Parkensine grew visibly agitated. "Oh not you too! Do you really believe what he's said to you? He's lying. He's trying to weasel away once again. And if I have to finish this job FOR YOU, then I'll have no qualms in doing it." He walked right up next to Bathory and Fate, watching the younger man twitch on the ground, staring off into nothing as blood continued pouring out of his chest with every heartbeat.

Fate ran in front of the wounded mage and held her arms out, putting herself in between him and his new attacker. Seeing this, Parkensine rolled his eyes.

"Get out of the way, Enforcer."

Fate stood her ground. "No."

"I said get out of my way."

"No! He's innocent. I have proof. I have evidence."

Parkensine began to grow angry. "Enforcer! I order you to get out of the way."

"No, General, I won't." Fate raised her voice as well. "He did not do what you think he did."

"I GAVE YOU AN ORDER!" Parkensine yelled that as loud as he could, and his left arm reached forwards and wrapped itself tightly around Fate's neck. His iron grip suffocated her, and she began to flail her arms and legs and grasp ineffectively at his hand. The General continued. "I give the orders, remember, and you follow them. You do what I tell you to do."

He turned around and walked back to the police blockade. His arm lowered but he kept his grip on the Enforcer's throat, almost dragging her along the back of her feet. Reaching Negati, he lifted Fate up again, who had begun to turn blue, and his device casted a binding spell.

[**FULL LOCKING BIND**]

Ring of energy closed themselves around Fate for the third time today, but every horizontal ring was also connected to the rings above and below it by several vertical energy straps. She was set back down, and Parkensine commanded Negati's attention.

"Lieutenant, take her back and hold her for insubordination until further notice."

Negati stared up at him, fearful of incurring any of the General's wrath upon her. "Ye...yeye...yeyes sir" she sputtered, looking back and forth between Fate and the General as she did so.

"Good." Parkensine stole one last glance at Fate. His voice dripped with disdain when he spoke. "I knew I shouldn't have hired a Midchildan pansy to do a Siban's job." After that, he headed over to the mage he'd been going after for over a year. Watching Bathory fidget about, Parkensine took the energy bolt that was still in the mage's chest and yanked it out. Extreme pain shot back through the ground mage, and he gasped again as his back arced into the air. Meanwhile, the bolt disappeared in Parkensine's hand, and he turned his attention towards Bathory's device. He pressed his foot down on Bathory's arm, aimed Golden Arrow at Aphelion, and fired again. A gold bolt split Aphelion open, breaking it completely as the device went back into its standby form. The green gem was also split into pieces, and they scattered on the ground. Bathory stared down at them, trying to scream his device's name, but the pain in his body was too much.

"Aaaaa!" was all he could get out. His hand twisted around to try to grab the pieces of the broken gem, but again it was almost more than he could do.

Parkensine reached down, grabbed Bathory around the neck like he did Fate, and raised him high into the air so Bathory's limp head gazed right down at Parkensine's.

"Bathory," the older man asked, knowing full well the answer to his oncoming questions. "Can you see me? Can you see what you did? You ridiculed those who were your friends and your mentors. You shamed everyone who backed you up and supported you - who only realized too late that their efforts were wasted on a ticking bomb like yourself. And how do you think I felt when you killed someone so close to me? I bet you weren't thinking about me. I bet you weren't thinking about anyone but yourself!"

Behind him, Negati stood by the barricade, watching the General go. She was supposed to be hauling Fate off, but she couldn't help but wonder if she really was letting an innocent man die.

Fate stared at Negati the entire time this was going on. "Negati, please" she begged, "help me. Get me out of these. I can save him. I can save him if you help me."

The Lieutenant looked back and forth between Fate and Parkensine. She didn't know whose side to be on, and so she continued to just watch.

"Negati, please," said Fate again, "who do you believe? Me, or him?"

Parkensine continued to hold Bathory up in the air, watching the ground mage's struggles grow weaker with each passing second. "You know," he continued, "this last year, as you made your little trek across this planet, I'd wonder what you were up to. I was hoping that you were miserable, living every single day think it would be your last. You deserve everything that has happened to you. And so does your team - your team deserves everything that happened to them."

That impacted Bathory much more deeply than anything before it, and the ground mage shook his head back and forth. "No..." he croaked. "N...no..."

Parkensine grinned again, planning exactly how he was going to kill who he'd wanted to kill for so long. He still had a few more words to say though. "You have lost everything and everybody that has ever cared for you. No one cares for you. No one supports you. Nobody will miss you. That damned Enforcer may have tried though, but even she's gone now." He turned around, expecting Fate to be off in the back of a police car, but she and the Lieutenant were still standing right where Parkensine had left them.

"Lieutenant?" he barked. "I thought I told you to get her out of here."

Negati once again began to look back and forth between Fate and Parkensine, who both kept their eyes firmly gazed on her.

"Negati," Fate said once again, "you have to help me. Please, it's almost too late."

"Are you even listening to me?" asked Parkensine. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Angered, Parkensine released his grip and Bathory dropped back to the ground. He reached back out to the pieces of his broken device, gathering them together again as Parkensine walked briskly over to Negati. "Lieutenant, I gave you an order as well. Don't tell me that no one here knows how to fucking take orders anymore!"

As Parkensine approached her, Negati decided on who she supported. She held her arm out at Fate, placing the palm of her hand on the bindings surrounding her. Red patterns began to glow on the Lieutenant's arm, and she surged her magic into her hand and then into Parkensine's bindings. They began to expand out around Fate, struggling to keep together, and finally they all broke apart, freeing the Enforcer. Of course, Parkensine was not happy about this.

"Lieutenant, you are not going to disobey me like this. Do you thing I'm going to allow any of this to stand?" He held his weapon up, aiming it at Negati. As he got close, he fired, and Negati charged forwards, ducking under a magic bolt that penetrated straight through the door of a police car behind her. The red patterns on her arm glowed a bright red again, and she swung her arm, punching the General right in the stomach. The energy from her arm transferred into Parkensine and sent him flying backwards over Bathory to part of the road behind him.

Fate took this opportunity look down at her device. "Bardiche," she said, "set up an emergency dimensional jump to Midchilda. And tell them I need Shamal as soon as I get there."

[**YES SIR**]

She put her device back in standby form and flew over to Bathory. Negati stayed where she was and spun around, holding her arms out at the officers under her who were aiming at her and Fate.

"Nobody fire a damn thing, okay? If anyone does, you WILL be reprimanded!"

Fate reached the fallen ground mage and cradled him in her arms. He was slipping away, and he was only focused on clutching the pieces of his broken device in his hand. He didn't seem to notice Parkensine sailing over him or Fate currently holding him.

Fate's device lit up with activity. "Enforcer, this is Midchilda. You are cleared for arrival."

"Understood" she said. "Bardiche, Dimensional Transfer!"

A yellow circle formed under her and Bathory, and it quickly began to glow brightly. Fate stole one last piercing glance at General Parkensine, who was getting back up from Negati's attack. He looked at Fate and stared back with absolute hatred as the two silhouettes inside the circle started to glow and then disappeared. The yellow circle disappeared as well, and only a pool of Bathory's blood remained where the two of them had once been.

* * *

Planet: Midchilda  
City: Cranagan

A yellow circle formed inside one of the TSAB office's transfer pods, and the two mages phased back into existence in another flash of light. The door of the pod was closed, but as Fate's spell ended, the transfer pod opened up and Fate found herself in the room she had first traveled to Siba from. Not a moment too soon, a medical team burst through the doors of the room, pushing a gurney along with them. At the front of the pack, a woman with shorter, lighter blond hair than Fate had ran up into the pod and helped the Enforcer pick up the extremely wounded ground mage.

"Fate," Shamal asked, "what is his condition?"

"Severe. He needs everything you can do." The two women got Bathory over to the gurney that the medical officer's assistants had wheeled up and placed him down on it. The ground mage's response to what was going on was to continue bleeding out onto whatever surface he was on as his vision and hearing started growing fuzzy. It took more out of him to breathe with each attempt, and sometimes things got so painful that his vision cut out completely for a second, drowning him in darkness as his head roared.

"Everyone," Shamal ordered, "get him back, fast as you can!" Her assistants grabbed the sides of the gurney and began running it out of the transfer room and into the halls of the building. Shamal and Fate ran right next to it, making a beeline for the medical wing. In the actual rooms of the medical wing, there were systems that could help pump healing magic that was as potent as possible into a patient, and Shamal could already tell that those systems would be needed.

The strongest healer mage on Midchilda did the best she could on the move. Shamal held her right hand above her patient and recited one of her spells. "Tranquil breeze," she said, "carry forth a blessing of healing! Calming Heal!"

Energy poured from the rings on her ring and index fingers down into the body of the ground mage. It seemed to slow Bathory's decay some, but he would need much more than that if he was to live through this.

"Fate," asked Shamal, "what is his name?"

"Bathory" Fate quickly replied, and Shamal leaned over the ground mage, looking down at him.

"Bathory, can you hear me? You need to hold on just a little bit longer. We are going to get you stabilized, but you have to stay with us. Do you understand?"

One of Shamal's assistants looked up at her. "Doctor, his vitals are still dropping."

Shamal looked back up. "Everyone, run as fast as you can. We have to get him there soon!" She looked back down at Bathory, and even though he seemed to be making eye contact, Shamal knew that probably wasn't the case. "Bathory, stay with us!" she cried.

To the Siban mage, everything that was being said just blended into a track of muffled noise that grew further and further away. His vision also blurred heavily until the face of the doctor above him was unrecognizable in the colorless fog that everything had become. Everything started feeling further and further away and he realized that he was truly at the precipice of dying.

He had heard tales of people on the verge of death seeing the 'bright light' of the afterlife, and how they had decided to step away from it to continue living. When Bathory heard those, it always seemed like a simple choice, deciding not to die. And in his pinnacle of health, when he was surrounded on the Siba Capital TSAB by his fellow officers and friends, he figured the choice would be even easier. Do I allow myself to die, and lose everything I had, or do I stay alive? Lose everything I have, or keep it? He sort of assumed that there would be some clarity in the moment of decision, and he never even considered that when it was his time, he would have no qualms with leaving.

Under the repeating lights of the Midchildan TSAB, all the pain, all the lost blood, all the sheer tiredness of his body and linker core overrode the positives of staying alive. It was a near-unanimous influence on his mind, and it would be almost unexplainable to someone who had never been at this position. He didn't think about staying alive, pushing through the overbearing pain, and regaining his freedom. Because it was _overbearing__**. **_It swung him in one direction, and he faced the metaphorical door to the afterlife with absolutely no regrets about what his decision was. There was a moment of clarity, just as he expected, but it was a clarity that stemmed from being fully committed to a certain action. After all the times he had gone back and forth since he left the Crawmer apartment this morning, he'd finally settled on where he would be at the end of the day. There was no going back now (as again, there was literally no thought in his mind of going back), and he took the final step into the brilliant white light.

* * *

_-in stillness as in sorrow-  
-__in stillness as in sorrow-_  
-___in stillness as in sorrow-_  
THIS NIGHT OUR JOURNEY'S THROUGH THE DARK

Circle Takes The Square - Kill The Switch


	18. Crossing Over

**A/N: **Well, ok, I admit I was kind of hoping to get one person going "whaaaaaaat" or "noooooooo" or something like that on the last chapter. Especially because I kind of got on a reviewer roll before. Now I realize I kinda screwed that up by uploading them on a Monday. Kids, word of advice, upload when your audience actually has free time to read. Also, I know finals and the end of school are coming up for many people, but I really didn't want to hold off on this for weeks until everything was over. It was there and it was typed! I need to release it! It's so close to the end!

But, alright, on to the chapter. 202, how, you ask, will you explore the concept of death without killing off a regular character? The simple answer is to just do it to one of my own :). Oh come on now! It's drama! I didn't make the tags Crime/Friendship! Though a story with those tags would probably be very entertaining...

* * *

_"Part of the problem with the idea of an afterlife is that we tend to make it far more literal than it needs to be, and as a result, it starts to seem ridiculous. Before you entered this world, could you have imagined mountains and tuna fish and teeth and ideas and music? Of course not - it is literally unimaginable. But we make of the idea of another world something that we can imagine and understand, and so we reduce it to nonsense."_

-Rabbi David Wolpe

* * *

Considering how little Bathory had thought about his death, it was only natural to assume that he had also thought little about what the afterlife would be like. Of course, he hoped he wouldn't just be stumbling through darkness for an eternity, but other than that, he didn't know what to expect. Did souls just wander the dimensions and planets as ghosts, invisible to the living eye? Did heaven and hell really exist, and would he find himself standing in line, waiting to be sent off to one of them? Would there be something else - some place that humankind never knew about or considered, because no one who ever made it there went back? The possibilities were endless, and as Bathory closed his eyes from the bright white he had entered, he just told himself that soon, things would just run their course.

He waited for the light to disappear and reveal the next part of the process, but as the seconds ticked on, the mage noticed that the light was persistent. Slowly, he opened his eyes again, and as they adjusted, he seemed to be on a completely white plane. He recognized that he was standing, and he looked down to see that he still had his body, but all his injuries and wounds from his final moments were gone. He looked around him, and though everything was all the same bright shade, he could tell that the floor would stretch on for the equivalent of forever.

Turning around slowly, he looked up and down at everything, taking in the entire area. He completed a full rotation, and when he came back around, he saw something that hadn't been there the first time he looked. It was the figure of a female mage, looking in front of her at the new arrival. Bathory met her gaze, and he knew who she was the instant he saw her. Everything was extremely familiar to him, from her clothes, to her height, to her face, and to the way her hair lightly fell down the back of her head. He was seeing someone he never thought he'd ever see again.

"Kaisa..."

He took a step forwards, wondering if her figure was really there, or if it was just a figment of his imagination. However, as he went on, the joy of seeing her again spurred him on to go faster, and finally he began to run across the white plane to her.

"Kaisa!"

He held his arms out, and as he reached the girl, he buried himself in her and hugged her tightly. She silently returned the favor, and Bathory was overjoyed. She was here! She was real! This wasn't the monotone, brainwashed shell that had been forced into forgetting him, but the real her. They were finally together again, after all that he suffered through since her death. It didn't matter to Bathory that they weren't in a city on the clouds with halos above their heads; here in the arms of the girl whose image he held onto during all the dark, trying nights, this was heaven.

He closed his eyes again, allowing the form of the familiar body in his arms to be satisfaction enough. "Kaisa," he said with a wide smile, "I'm finally here. I know you waited for me, and I'm finally here."

"Bathory..." she quietly responded.

Her partner continued. "Every single day, I wished you were there with me again. I never stopped thinking about you. And now...and now, nothing will separate us ever again."

"Bathory..."

"Oh, Kaisa, I've missed your voice! I've missed your voice, and your smile, and I...how did I ever make it through that without you?"

Kaisa got a bit further in her sentence. "Bathory, I...I don't want...I don't want you to..."

Her partner released his arms from around her and placed them down on her shoulders. He had to keep a hold of her, lest she vanish away from him once again. Still, her slightly sad tone and the way she almost choked those words out worried her partner, and he looked back into her eyes, wondering what was hurting her.

"Kaisa, what's wrong?" he asked. "I'm here now. Everything's behind us. Nothing is ever going to happen to us now. What's wrong?"

The shorter girl trembled, and she started to cry. "I...I don't...I don't want you to die."

Bathory's confusion was apparent in his voice. "Why? Why don't you want me to? Nothing back there is anything I want to go back to. Haven't you missed me?"

Across from him, Kaisa nodded her head rapidly as the tears came pouring out of her eyes. "Yes! Yes I have! I've missed you so much."

"Then why are you crying? Why are you so sad now? I'm not leaving you ever again."

Kaisa began to almost shout. "Because! Because I've been watching you every single day. I've been there the entire time! I've seen everything, Bathory. Everything that's happened to you."

Her partner became even more confused. This didn't make much sense to him. "Then you know, Kaisa! You know how horrible it was, fighting every day of my life, always on the run. It must have hurt so much to watch that. I'm...I'm sorry. I don't why I even kept running. I was just so confused. But now, it's over. Be happy. It's over." He went in to silence her with a kiss, but she reacted against in, bringing her hands up to stop Bathory and push him away. He looked at her again, but now he was raising his voice as well.

"Kaisa, please! Why are you doing this? Why don't you want me here?"

"They're trying to save you, Bathory! And you have so much more to live for. I never wanted you to die - I won't let you do this for me."

"I don't understand! I don't understand why you're doing this."

"You can't give up now! I want you to go on. I want to see what you do. You're going to live!"

A million things ran through Bathory's head. What the hell was happening? This wasn't right. This wasn't what he was expecting. In the moment, he had absolutely no idea why the girl who missed him so much was trying to distance herself from him. He approached her again, wondering if she really was the mage he loved so much.

"Kaisa, please, I just want to-"

He held his arms out again, trying to wrap her back in his embrace, but Kaisa wouldn't let that happen. She leaned forwards, putting her hands on Bathory's chest. "NO!" she yelled. "YOU'RE GOING TO LIVE FOR THE BOTH OF US!"

Kaisa shoved her partner back, and Bathory went to keep his footing only to find nothing under him. It was as if he were on the edge of a precipice the entire time. As he fell off the edge, he saw that the bottom of the plane was black, and so was everything around him. He reached out for Kaisa, but her image grew faint and far away as Bathory continued to fall into the void.

He splashed through the surface of some type of liquid, and Bathory shut his eyes from the shock of the impact. His descent slowed quickly, and he felt like he was now floating in the water or whatever it was. He opened his eyes again, and then had to make sure he had really done so as there was only complete darkness around him. Flipping himself around, he pushed up to where he thought the surface of the water would be, only to find more water. Perhaps he had gotten disoriented by the fall. Perhaps the surface was in some other direction. He spun around looking for it and then his eyes opened in shock once again as he realized he couldn't breathe. He felt a very real need for more air, and his lungs started to burn.

He began to thrash around, spinning and looking around wildly for the surface, trying to breathe again. His attempts continued to be futile, and he started to panic. The feeling in his starved lungs was definitely real, and he was horrified of what would happen if he didn't find the surface. Meanwhile, he asked himself a million questions. Is this what death was really like? Absolute nothingness, like he feared? He was wrong to have chosen this, and his arms and legs thrashed through the water as he begged for escape. Bathory screamed out, his voice distorted by the liquid.

"I don't want this! I don't want to die!"

Air bubbles shot out along with the words, and the mage felt that he was at the breaking point. He closed his eyes again, begging to be spared. Never was he more scared to truly die, and never did he want to live more.

"No! No! I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

His hand grasped something, and the mage suddenly felt himself to be out of the water. He opened his eyes as he gasped for air, and everything quickly faded back in out of a haze. Above him, the doctor with short blonde hair that Bathory had barely noticed earlier was leaning over him, staring desperately at the ground mage. His eyes quickly processed his surroundings, and he seemed to be in a brightly lit room with little decoration on any of the walls. He was in one corner of the room, and immediately next to him were two people - the doctor who was staring down at him and the Enforcer he had battled before this, whose arm Bathory held tightly with his outstretched hand. Behind those two was a line of other people, who were also all staring in shock at him.

Above him, Shamal was finally unfrozen, and she clutched the rail on the side of Bathory's bed in extreme relief. "I told you, Fate, I told you..." she said, shutting her eyes now and letting tears of relief run from her eyes. A tidal wave of fear and uncertainty rushed from her body. "I told you I could get him back."

Bathory had a brief moment of painlessness before his brain caught back up to his body, and the surging pain from his destroyed body caused him to cry out. Soon, he was back to being debilitated by it, but this time, he wasn't going anywhere. He released his grip on Fate's arm, and she stepped back to allow Shamal's assistants to get back to work. Shamal herself also recovered and set her mind on her patient. She ordered for several pieces of equipment to be set up, and her assistants began attaching all sorts of sensors and machines to the bleeding man's body while Shamal herself continues to cast energy out of the rings on her hands.

Bathory was still fairly out of the zone and struggled against the medical officers, especially when a mask was brought down around his mouth and nose and attached around his head. He tried pulling the intrusive object off of him, and someone had to hold his arms down so the ground mage could breathe in the slightly strange-smelling gas that was pumped into it. His struggles weakened and he started to drift off again from the gas and from Shamal's intensive spells. However, this was a controlled sleep, and he merely slipped into unconsciousness this time.

With his body at rest, the doctors finished setting up the machines, and some of them monitored his vitals while others pumped intense healing magic to where it was needed. Shamal finally took a step back from the operation and allowed herself a breather. She looked over at the not-too-well-off-herself-Enforcer and spoke to her.

"Fate, I'm sorry, but you need to go now."

Fate understood that at this point in time, no one but trained medical officers were allowed to be in the room. The situation was just so dire before that enforcing that wasn't really on Shamal's mind. Still, Fate kept her gaze on Bathory for a little bit longer.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Shamal lightly chuckled. "Well, I brought him back from the dead, so I'm sure I can get him stabilized."

"Okay." Fate took a single step back, but remained focused on the patient. "And when do you think he'll be awake?"

Shamal looked at Bathory as well, crossing her arms. "I don't know right now. I can't possibly tell you until he's on a solid recovery. Check with me in a day or two, and I should be able to tell you then."

Fate finally broke her gaze from the man who she was invested in, and as she turned around, she paused on the other woman. "Thank you, Shamal" she said truthfully, and then headed for the door.

"Oh, and Fate?"

The Enforcer paused and looked back behind her. Walking over to Fate, Shamal reached into the pocket of her uniform and pulled out a keycard that simply said "304" on it.

"You look a little worse for wear yourself. Go spend some time in there yourself - doctor's orders."

Fate thanked Shamal again and took the keycard. Shamal went back to working on her patient and Fate headed out of the room, closing the door behind her. The Enforcer put her back against the wall next to the door and allowed herself to slump down to the floor. Her own tidal wave finally washed over her from everything that had just happened, and she sighed in relief. Hey eyes shut once again and her head started to droop.

The sound of footsteps walking down the hall alerted Fate, and she stole a quick glance out of one eye at who they belonged to. When Fate saw a white and blue instructor uniform under a single ponytail of long, brown hair, she shut her eye again and smiled.

"Nanoha, I'm fine. I'll get up in a second."

Still, she had no objection when Nanoha walked up and sat down against the wall next to her. Fate leaned to the side and rested her head on Nanoha's shoulder.

"So, Fate," asked the instructor, "how did it go?"

Fate had to laugh at that. "Interesting" she finally responded.

"I didn't think you would be back for a day or two."

Fate finally opened her eyes and looked into the blue eyes that were next to her. "Things sort of escalated near the end there. I had to get him out of danger. And he..." Fate looked to her other side at the closed door that her target was behind. "...he needed to come here. It was the only way that he would have made it." Fate still felt a connection to Bathory, because while she knew the truth about him, nobody else did. Her mission to track him down was completed, but now she had a duty to make sure his innocence was recognized and to make sure the mage was granted his freedom. She turned back to Nanoha.

"He didn't do what the bureau says he did. Nanoha, I know he had good reason for doing what he did. He isn't safe on Siba. They don't know what really happened. And they wouldn't listen! He was dying, and I had to get him to Shamal. It was the only way..." She shared a rare moment of worry to one of the few people she felt she could share those emotions with. General Parkensine's glare was heavy on her mind, and she imagined that he was probably trying this very second to secure transport to Midchilda to take Bathory back forcefully. She imagined him tearing the entire building apart and cutting his own trail to the medical wing in search of the man he was so close to killing. He would undo all of what Fate had done to help Bathory, and he would win. He'd win his little rampage through Bathory and his teammates' lives, and it didn't matter to him that he would have cut off far more than the nose to spite the face.

"Fate," said Nanoha, offering her support, "I believe you. I believe you completely. You did the best thing you could do."

Naturally, Fate would rather Nanoha be happy rather than bog her down too much with worries. While part of Fate wanted to stand guard at the door to hold back any evil forces, she let herself remember that even if the Midchildan TSAB considered Bathory to be guilty of his crime as well, they would still make absolutely sure that he was brought back up to health. If any General came knocking with his weapon in his hands, he'd have to answer to at least Shamal, and then to at least the rest of the Wolkenritter, and then to at least Hayate, and then along with all of that, if Nanoha believed that what Fate said about Bathory was true...

He'd be fine. He'd be fine, Fate thought, as Nanoha took her hand and the two of them got back up. However, getting up caused a wave of pain to surge through Fate, and her knees buckled under her. She gasped, and Nanoha had to make sure that the blonde Enforcer didn't fall back down.

"Fate..." said Nanoha, and she noticed that Fate's hand was holding a thin card in it. Nanoha took it from her and read what was on it.

"Nanoha, I'm fine. I can go back home." Fate didn't even remember what time it was on Midchilda at the moment, but she knew that even if it was empty, she'd rather get back to their house and fall down into their bed rather than spend time somewhere in the medical ward.

"No, Fate, you're going to rest." Nanoha wrapped Fate's arm around her shoulders and supported the Enforcer. A little bit of playfulness returned to Nanoha's voice, and Fate, despite what she had just said, let Nanoha walk her down the hall to the recovery room. But still, maybe the brown-haired woman was playing this up a bit too much.

"Nanoha, I can walk by myself, you know?"

The two of them reached the room, and Nanoha swiped the keycard in the door. It unlocked, and the two entered the dark room. Inside it was another healing chamber, but this one was a little more advanced than the one on Siba. The edges didn't curve up in a circle, because there was no need for a ceiling. Instead, the energy just managed to stay low and stay within the bed, and it didn't have to be prevented from flying away. Of course, it was still only wide enough for one person to lie in.

Fate walked up and climbed into the chamber, not even bothering to take her uniform off. Nanoha activated the machine, and Fate found herself making a very un-Enforcer-like sound at the pleasure from the magic that flowed around her. Nanoha giggled, bringing her hand up to keep her mouth closed, and then set her eyes back on Fate.

"Alright, Fate, roll over" she commanded. Of course, Fate had just gotten comfortable, and she didn't really want to break that.

"Nanoha, I don't really want to..."

Nanoha giggled again and lightly traced her finger on Fate's side. "Faaaaate" she said, in that playful tone that only Fate really knew about. Suddenly, she brought both hands down to the blonde's side and started to lift her over. Her voice changed with it, and she became serious again for only a second. "You're going to roll over!"

She got Fate almost onto her side before the Enforcer quit grumbling and helped out. Fate spun onto her stomach and soon she began to settle back into the bed again. However, Nanoha's reasoning for doing what she did became apparent when Fate felt the instructor's hands massaging her shoulders and neck.

She absolutely melted into the bed, and Fate reached a state of zen. Still, even as that happened, and even as Fate let out more of those un-Enforcer-like groans, she spoke up.

"Nanohaaaaa... you don't haaaaave to doooo thiiiiiiiis..."

Nanoha just responded with a wide smile as she worked on Fate. When she'd heard that Fate arrived back so suddenly and was in need of a medical team, she had her own worrying thoughts run through her head. She had already set up a temporary replacement for her and set Vivio up to stay with Hayate by the time she reached the medical wing. Of course, right before she'd blasted the doors down to get to Fate, she heard the truth, and thus her approach to where Fate was had been a relieved walk rather than a panicked flight. And so she continued to work on Fate, letting her actions speak for her about how glad she was that Fate was healthy. Well... mostly healthy.

When she was done, Nanoha grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to the chamber. Fate turned her head to the side and watched the brunette sit down in it.

"Nanoha? What's going on now?"

"I just want to make sure that everything's okay - that you're feeling alright."

Fate let the two of them rest for a bit before asking what had been on her mind since she entered the room. "Nanoha, how did Vivio take it?"

The instructor and mother shifted in her seat, looking slightly to the right of Fate now. "Well, as you saw, those first few days, she definitely noticed, but she seemed more curious than anything else."

"Did you tell her I was just on a business trip?" asked Fate. She smiled lightly, but as only silence went on, her smile faded. She had a feeling Nanoha wouldn't lie to her daughter, but if she didn't do that, then how did she explain it? Fate's eyes shot open, and she could only pray that Nanoha had at least coated the truth some. Still, the silence went on and Fate knew to skip the question. "Well, most importantly," Fate said, "is she settling in?"

Thankfully, Nanoha responded to this one quickly. "Yes, I think so. She seems to be finding a routine."

"Good, good." Fate smiled again. "I'll see her first thing tomorrow. Or first thing to...when..." she rolled over and looked right at the person beside her. "Nanoha, what time is it? I don't actually remember."

"Not important. You stay in here until you feel up to it, okay?"

Fate rolled back over. "Okay." She shut her eyes and rested again. A couple seconds later, she spoke up again. "Nanoha, I'm probably about to fall asleep on you, just saying."

The brunette smiled again. "I'm fine with that. Goodnight."

As if on cue, Fate yawned. The power of the healing chamber and the presence of the instructor by her side meant that Fate could clear all the things presently on her mind, from any last worries about her current case or of the girl that she would see again soon. It really didn't matter what time it was, only where she was and what she needed to do. And right now, she needed to rest.

"Yeah...goodnight."

* * *

**Real A/N:** AND THEN THEY NANOFATED IT UP ALL NIGHT. IF YOU WANT, I GUESS.

But seriously, despite really not being the type to write honorifics and stuff, I kept subconsciously wanting to add all the "ne, fate-chan"s and "nyahaha"s and, you know, regular stuff at the end of this. As you can tell, I like to understate everything, so take this interpretation as you will.

And finally, I'm done throwing curve balls. Bathory is going to live. Now, on what conditions... wait and see.


	19. With Every Intention

June 6th, 0076  
10:00 AM

Three days later, Shamal decided that Bathory was not in any immediate medical danger, he was beginning to recover, and he could be moved to a low-intensity part of the medical wing. This meant that several of the spells and machines that he was under would be discontinued, and one of them was the spell currently keeping him unconscious. When everything else had been completed, and when he had been transferred from the harshly-lit room he had been in to a more standard and 'friendly' one, Shamal stood by his bed and ended his sleep.

Almost immediately, his eyelids began to twitch, as if his mind finally snapped back into his body once again. Other parts of his face also began to subtly move, and his eyes slowly opened partway. Just then, his mind kicked in and he remembered that something had definitely happened to him, and his eyes shot open to survey the room. Though there was still a large blur over everything, and though he was still quite out of it, the mage recognized that he was somewhere in a hospital. He saw the white walls around him with various cabinets back over near the door to the room, and he noticed that on the wall opposite of his bed was a large window that currently had its blinds down. And, of course, he noticed some vaguely-human-shaped figure standing next to him.

Shamal smiled. "Good morning, Bathory. How do you feel?"

The ground mage was currently in the process of flexing his fingers and toes and making sure that everything worked. "Fine...I guess..." he muttered.

Shamal was expecting that any pain that was there would arrive to the man in another minute or two, but she was hoping that it would at least be bearable. "Well," she said, crossing her arms, "your chest sustained some heavy injuries, but we've gotten everything to where it's starting to recover."

Almost as if the doctor's words just reminded him of it, Bathory's chest started to hurt again. It wasn't an extremely deep pain, but it did remind him of being on the streets of Victamius and being speared through in the first place. Pretty much everything after that was incomprehensible, but he definitely remembered that happening. He grunted a bit when the pain came back, but like Shamal had hoped, it was manageable. Still, Bathory turned his head to look up at Shamal and grinned weakly, realizing he wasn't exactly 'fine'.

"And everything else is just regular soreness and magic damage" continued Shamal. "Courtesy of Fate. It looks she ran you up and down quite a bit, but most of that should be gone by now."  
Bathory nodded, again weakly, and turned his head away from her again. Along with what the General had done to him, he thought about the rest of the confrontation up to that point. He was alive, and so he realized that somehow his death sentence must have been called off or postponed. Whatever would happen to him, he was again too weak to escape it. He consoled himself that hopefully they'd send him far away, because even the most hellish prison on another world would be better than living under the shadow of Parkensine. Looking down at his arms at the moment, Bathory was honestly surprised that he wasn't tied down to the bed or tied to anything for that matter. From what he remembered would happen back in Siba Capital, he was sure he'd be quite immobilized and unable to escape.

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. "I guess you all want me to at least be walking so you can march me down to the cells yourselves. When are they going to do that?"

Shamal looked down, confused. "What do you mean? We're not going to do that."

"What do you mean 'what do you mean'?" asked Bathory in return. "You got me. I held out, but you got me. You got me back to Siba Capital, finally. Or if I'm still in Victamius, then I'm getting sent there soon as I can."

Shamal looked like she finally understood, and she remembered what Fate had told her when the two of them talked last. The medical officer smiled again. "Bathory, you're not in either of those cities."

Getting a little hostile, the ground mage sat up. "Okay, then where am I? Not that it matters, I just want to know."

"You're not even on Siba anymore" continued Shamal. "Welcome to Midchilda."

Bathory went to say something, but he froze, processing that last part. All his hostility became confusion. "Wait, what? I don't believe you."

"What do you remember about when you and Fate talked? After you got injured, she transported you here. Do you remember any of that? You were awake at the time."

As she said that, little bits of the moments after Bathory's injury popped up, and he did kind-of-sort-of remember seeing the sky disappear and seeing the top of a gray tube replace it. He was outside, and then he was suddenly inside, and for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything in between that. Perhaps he really was transported somewhere.

He looked slowly back at Shamal, wondering then if what everything she said was true. "Did...did you say...Midchilda?"

Shamal nodded again, and Bathory immediately tried his best to climb out of the bed. Shamal went to keep him in it, but the ground mage swung his feet over the side and dropped to the floor below. After his long sleep, and with his legs still slightly numb from his and Fate's fight, they were quite a bit weaker than he expected and Bathory almost fell over. Shamal, who had her arms wrapped around him, was the only reason he stayed somewhat up. This didn't stop him, and as he got his footing, he pushed over to the window. Reaching for it, he drew the blinds up, allowing the sights from outside to show themselves. Indeed, it was what Bathory had hoped for, and indeed, it was spellbinding. A huge city stretched out in front of him, and the absolutely massive structure of the TSAB main office towered above everything else.

His eyes and mouth were wide open, and the sheer scene of the city he never expected to see in person caused him to forget all words. His attention couldn't be drawn away from it, and Shamal finally gave in and allowed the Siban mage to stare out of the window for a little while.

"Okay, Bathory" she said after a few seconds had passed. "I'll leave the window open, but you need to get back to bed." She started pulling him back from the window, and though his wide eyes continued to take in the colorful city, his feet moved with Shamal's and he was stepping away as well.

When the two of them were about halfway back to the bad, a short mage with red hair in two braids behind her stepped into the room. "Hey Shamal," she said, "Hayate wants to see you as soon as you can."

"Understood" Shamal replied plainly, still focused on trying to pull a man by his waist across the room. "Thank you, Vita."

At that moment, something clicked in Bathory's mind. His head slowly turned to look at the girl, who had paused an extra moment to take in what she was seeing. As Bathory's head finished turning, he looked down at the blue eyes before him and was met with the hammer knight's gaze in return. His hand slowly went out to point at her, and he whispered a single word.

"Vita."

The read-haired mage cocked her head slightly. "Do I know you?" she asked.

And with that, Bathory was overjoyed. Everything fell into place. He was on MIDCHILDA! He was here with all the most well-known, most publicized mages. The Aces were here! The Wolkenritter was here, and two were in the room with him! At the moment, he felt like a celebrity MVP, and he almost fell over again as he tried to charge over to the hammer knight.

"Vitaaaaa!" he cried, still somewhat out of it and still not making the best decisions. "Vita! I want your autograph!"

This time, Shamal really tried to keep the Siban mage reigned in, and she managed to keep him held firmly away from her fellow mage, even as he struggled to escape. The red-haired knight watched the show in front of her with a look of slight confusion, and then she sighed heavily, shaking her head back and forth.

"Shamal, you gotta cut back on his crazy pills."

The blonde chuckled as she started to gain traction, dragging the admirer back to his bed. "Thank you, Vita" she replied. "I'll go see Hayate as soon as I can."

Without saying a word, Vita turned around and left, laughing at the healer mage's struggles only after she was out of the room. Back in the room, Shamal finished getting Bathory back to his bed, and he finally complied with her, letting himself lay back down on it. A huge grin was still on his face and his eyes were closed as he simply imagined the rest of the famous mages he hoped he'd see.

His reaction to realizing Shamal was his doctor was a tad less over the top, as the combat-based mages were always more his focus, but he still lied down on the bed, feeling very giddy. "Sorry, Shamal, I know I'm making a complete fool of myself."

"It's okay," the woman replied, making sure her patient hadn't reinjured anything. "You practically closed your eyes on one planet and woke up on another. And speaking of..." She turned suddenly to face the open door of the room. "Fate wanted to know when you had woken up. Wait here for a bit, please."

Shamal headed out of the room and left. It was just Bathory alone in the corner, back on the bed but hardly lying down. He was sitting up, and as the initial shock from where he was had gotten through him, he truly got a good look at himself. His arms and legs seemed to be fine, but there was a big bandage across his chest from the injury. Wondering about something, Bathory raised his right hand up and tried to summon a small ball of energy. It formed, but then a huge wave of pain ran through him, and the ball of energy disappeared as he bent over, feeling like his linker core was on fire. He knew that linker core damage took the longest of any damage to heal, but he didn't expect it to be that bad. Still, he'd managed to sit back up and pretend he hadn't done that by the time Shamal entered the room again with the familiar-looking Enforcer behind her. Still remembering how Fate had wrecked him quite heavily, Bathory greeted her with much more restraint.

"Good morning" Fate echoed as she stood next to the bed.

"Fate's been wanting to tell you a few things" said Shamal, standing back. "She was bugging me quite a bit."

Fate smiled and looked quickly back at the other woman, and then she turned back to the mage sitting up on the bed. She became serious again. "Well, Bathory, it's been three days since our battle."

"Wait, three days?" interrupted Bathory. "Wow...did I miss a lot?"

The Enforcer continued. "During that time, the Siban government has tried their hardest to force you to be returned to their custody. However, I presented all the evidence I have for your innocence - the files from before and after the incident, to the device logs from your teammates that show them backing you up, and then your testimony that you gave me. And it's not exactly complete and decisive in proving it, but the TSAB has decided that even if you are guilty, the Siban government is requesting too harsh of actions, and they represent a clear danger to your well-being. Now, you are, in a way, required by law to remain on Midchilda for the moment."

Bathory breathed his first sigh of relief. "And what do you mean 'for the moment'? What's going to happen?"

Fate tapped the side of the bed with her hand. "As you recover, your stay will be on Midchilda, your trial will be on Midchilda, and if you are sentenced, it will be by an unbiased Midchildan judge. There is absolutely no way you'll be put to death or receive unjust punishment."

The ground mage breathed his second sigh of relief. "I...I...thank you so much, Fate. This is the last thing I ever expected. I never thought that Aphelion and I would..."

At the mention of his device's name, he finally realized that not only was the green gem not tied to his arm, but that he had watched it be completely and utterly destroyed. All the happiness drained from him and was replaced by near panic. "Aphelion!" he cried, grasping at Fate. "Where is it? Where'd it go?"

"Bathory, calm down" said Fate as both she and Shamal went to prevent the ground mage from running off. "It's being fixed. Right now, it's being fixed. I'm sure it'll be fine."

At this, the Siban mage relaxed somewhat. "Really? I...you didn't...but I'm...but will I ever see it again? I mean, if I am sentenced, will I get to keep it? Or do I...or do I not get it back?"

Shamal had backed off again, and Fate continued to speak. "Well, it depends on what you're given. I hate to have some bad news, but even if you're absolved of the homicide charge, there are several things you did during the last sixteen months that you are undeniably proven to have done. There are still things you'll be charged for."

Bathory's expression dropped. "Oh. Like all the times someone saw me and I had to run again?"

"Exactly. But none of those are anywhere near as bad as, well, what we're trying to drop. Several counts of assaulting officers and resisting arrest, and, of course, two counts of fighting an Enforcer."

The ground mage winced. "Yeah. And about dropping a building on your head?"

Shamal curiously gazed over at Fate, wondering about what was just said.

"I forgive you for that" said Fate. "You didn't intent to do it." She cleared her throat, as if to move the conversation along. "Now, though you will be sentenced some, it's likely that you'll be able to pick the terms of your sentencing. You could choose some time in prison, if you wish, during which your device would be held away from you until you finish your sentence, or you could choose something else."

"Something else?" asked Bathory, leaning in towards Fate.

"Well, you may have heard that Midchilda offers an excellent rehabilitation program for those who are sorry for what they've done and want to give back a little. Get a fresh start, if you will. Often, those who go through the program get severely reduced sentences and are often offered a sure spot in the ranks of the bureau to do good. Many who have used the program say it's the best thing to ever happen to them."

After she said that, Fate turned her head slightly at Shamal and grinned, knowing Shamal was doing the same. "And in your case," she continued to Bathory, "you were already an officer before what happened, and I guarantee that once you finish the program, you'll be established back at your current rank. You'll pick up right where you left off. Does that interest you?"

The ground mage felt even more overwhelmed than before. This was all turning out so much better than he ever thought things would go. Three days ago, he was sure he was going to die, and now, he might be completely restored? Like this never happened? He nodded wildly, showing that he was very interested in what Fate was saying. The hypocrisy of choosing the program that he and his fellow Siban officers used to scoff at for being 'way too lenient on those undeserving criminals' never really crossed his mind. He just wanted this whole saga to be done with.

Fate shifted a bit and continued talking. "Now, Bathory, your consideration for that program isn't guaranteed. There are a few things that factor in to your potential admission. While you fled across Siba, what were you thinking? How did you feel?"

Bathory forced himself to remember how things had been, and he searched for the right words to say. His head turned, and he stared uncomfortable at the wall. "The entire time, it was horrible. I couldn't believe what was going on, and it seemed like everyone just turned against me. I lived where I could, ate what I could, and found any work that I could do, but of course the only people who didn't ask for a background check weren't doing the most legal of things. You know, everyday I'd do something to someone that just made me feel terrible. There was this young girl who I attacked just because she noticed who I was. I...I thought about killing her."

"But you didn't" Fate remarked.

Bathory looked back over at her. There were a few things that he had to get out of his system. Things that he had to admit to doing just because they were so wrong. He didn't really care at the moment if his sentence got extended. "And recently, I helped transport this unison device to her buyer. She didn't want it. It was kidnapping, it was going against her will, and I just went along with it."

"And then you freed her. You made sure she got to safety."

"Okay, and then we kidnapped the two Lieutenants." Bathory's voice began to get louder, and he delivered his own condemnation with force. "Yautja did everything to them, but I watched. I watched and I made sure we got what we wanted."

"But again," said Fate, trying to calm the ground mage, "you let them go. You didn't want to have to do it."

"And after all that, I tried to kill you. Don't say I didn't want to. I...I wanted to. At the moment, I tried so hard..."

"Bathory!" shouted Fate, breaking the mage out of his spiral. He froze up, staring at her out of shock. "It's done. Right now, looking back on that, were you glad you did any of it? Do you wish you could go back?"

"No! No, no, I don't!" The ground mage started to visibly shake. "I...I wish I didn't have to do any of that. I just didn't know what to do. I felt like I had to do it."

Fate surprised the ground mage by smiling again and standing up. "I'm sure you'll have no problem getting into the program. I believe you, and I'm sure we'll make the best case for you that we can. I'll update you when I have more information about your trial." With that, she turned around and headed out of the room. Bathory stared after her, still somewhat shocked at the turn of events, but the smile of relief soon returned to his face. Fate was trying to hear the right words, and he was sure he had ended up saying them.

Shamal continued to stand in the room, with her mind in her own thoughts. "It's wonderful what Fate and Nanoha can do for people" she finally said. "You might be lying in the deepest, darkest pit you could possibly imagine, thinking that you'll never escape, and then they somehow pull you out of it." She looked off into nowhere as she said this, as if she was remembering some moment in her own life. "And they tell you that you'll never have to feel like that ever again."

She closed her eyes and smiled, letting the memory return to its place. Back in the present, she looked at her patient one more time. "Well, I'll leave you alone now. Make sure to get plenty of rest. You cannot and will not be up and moving for another few days, understand?"

Bathory nodded. "I understand."

"If you have any questions or need assistance, you can call for someone, but otherwise, stay in that bed and let yourself heal." Shamal turned around and left the room, shutting the door as she did so. After that, Bathory continued to sit for a while. His mind was running with the possibilities of what the immediate future would be, and eventually he became focused on the Cranagan skyline again. He was on Midchilda, but even more than that, he was away. Out of the fire. His trial still weighed heavily on his mind, and many of the things mentioned came down to the court finding him innocent for what happened at the Grand Meridian. He could only hope that it would go well for him.

* * *

June 13th, 0076  
2:25 PM

The sky could not have been any more blue, and the vast ocean that sprawled out from the city complemented the sky's shade almost perfectly. Everything just seemed to be perfect. The temperature was perfect, the breeze that rushed in from the ocean was perfect, and everything just seemed to be more colorful, more vibrant than before. Of course, to the man waiting inside a building by the edge of the ocean, he knew his mental state had quite a lot to do with that. He stood there, waiting for his transport to arrive, and passed the time by spinning a green gem around in the air, a loop of string keeping it connected to his wrist. Finally, he stopped, caught the gem in his hand, and rested it there.

"Aphelion," he said, having trouble forming the rest of the words, "I...I still can't believe this." Bathory opened his mouth but everything he wanted to say kept getting replaced by something else before it could get out. Finally, he let his thought go in their scattered state. "You...me...here. On Midchilda. And...and we're fine. Completely fine. I never would've imagined it like this."

[**THIS IS THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR YOU, MY MASTER**]

"Yeah... what a sudden twist of everything." Bathory brought his device up and looked it over in detail, still unable to believe that it now looked just as solid as it had ever looked. It didn't look at all like it had been in several pieces just a week beforehand. And even when Bathory had heard that, he worried that Aphelion would still have to start over - that the old 'it' would have been gone, and it would have to start over with a clean slate of memories with its partner. But that wasn't the case, and somehow, everything in there had stayed and it just needed to be reactivated. Bathory didn't exactly know how the memory of his device really worked, but it didn't matter. Aphelion was still with him, and that was fine by him.

Right now, Bathory Kardenis stood in the building as a low-class criminal. From Enforcer Harlaown's case on him, to his testimony, and even to his device's testimony (which Bathory didn't even know would happen, but then again, that never happened in any Siban courts), he'd been found innocent of his worst charges. Now, for the others, he just nodded his head and accepted that he had, in fact, gotten in several confrontations with the TSAB during his flight that probably didn't need to have happened. At the end, he was no worse than a minor criminal, and those charges would be very easily overlooked if he chose to take the rehabilitation program. In the courtroom, Bathory smiled, having made his decision long before that.

And now, here he was by the ocean, just waiting for his transport to the Maritime Detention Center, and he wondered what exactly he'd be doing in there. Again, when he and his fellow officers would ridicule the idea back in Siba Capital, they figured that participants would just sit around in a circle doing touchy-feely bullshit and getting to 'find their inner selves' and whatnot. But again, now that Bathory was faced with it, the idea seemed to hold a lot more meaning than that.

Many people had walked past him as he stood there, and he didn't pay much attention to any person or any conversation. He just waited for whatever transport would be provided for him to arrive. When a small boat drove up with what looked sort of like a prisoner transport on the back, Bathory got alert and stood ready. An officer headed up from the docks and opened the door, looking for the mage who he'd be escorting.

"Bathory Kardenis?"

The man in question nodded and headed over to the officer. The two of them waited by the door until Bathory was granted clearance to leave the mainland, and then he was led over to the boat. The back doors were open, and Bathory stepped through them into a small enclosed area with seats on the left and right. It looked like there was room for only two people to sit on each side, and Bathory just placed himself down on one side, expecting to be the only person back there on this voyage. He sat patiently and waited for the doors to be closed, but they stayed open. Curiously, he began to look back out of the doors. He didn't see any other mages with him that were being taken to the center while he was in the building. However, two girls stepped into the back with him and quickly sat down opposite of the original passenger.

They were talking to each other, but one of them seemed to be doing most of the talking. The girl in question had short blue hair and a very exited expression on her face, and the taller girl next to her, who seemed to just take this with a smile, had longer purple hair. Bathory observed them and noticed that they were both dressed in regular clothing and didn't seem to be members of the rehab program. Of course, along with that, neither of them had a limiter locked around them like he did. He picked up that the two were talking about someone named 'Cinque' or something like that, but it didn't really concern him. He just went back to his own thoughts, and stayed there for a bit until the blue haired girl suddenly caught sight of something outside the back of the boat, jumped up, and raced out of it.

"Nove!" she cried. "Back here!"

Bathory could only wait and see what the girl would return with, and it turned out to be a third girl, this one with fiery red hair, who took the last open seat next to the one mage who was not like the others. The Siban mage didn't really mind any of the extra passengers, even though Nove turned out to be about as fast-paced as the blue-haired one across from him. Bathory just retreated to his corner and again waited for the doors to be closed. The seats in the back were full, so to him, it had to be time to go. But he really should've seen it coming when yet another girl ducked into the back of the boat.

Again, the blue haired welcomed the new arrival. "Dieci!" she yelled happily and began searching the small area for seating space. "You can...uh...you...uh..."

Bathory raised his hand. "I can scoot over" he said, pressing himself more into the wall.

The blue-haired girl quickly looked at him and seemed to notice him for the first time, then turned back to the new arrival. "Naaaaah, it's fine" she said, bouncing up and shuffling over to sit on the lap of the purple-haired girl, letting Dieci take her old spot.

Bathory chuckled and looked at the wall next to him, starting to feel a small bit overrun by the party that was there with him. He looked back, and noticed the blue-haired girl was hunched forwards and was staring at him. Her elbow rested on her leg, and her arm bent up so her hand was supporting the bottom part of her head. And her eyes were set on the man diagonal from her.

"Subaru," said the girl whose lap was being sat on, "it's not nice to stare."

"But Gin-nee" said Subaru, tilting her head way back and looking from the tops of her eyes, "doesn't he look familiar? I know I saw him recently."

Bathory looked around in front of him, from Nove on his right to the three across from him. Part of him felt sort of awkward with all this sudden attention on him. Another part told him that this time, being found out didn't mean having to escape the city and start everything over again. It was okay to be him again. And so, he nervously waved at the four.

"Hi, I'm, uh, I'm Bathory." His eyes also went between all four other pairs, each pair looking in his direction. "I was, uh, I was on the news yesterday. Maybe that's where you saw me."

Subaru's eyes lit up. "Yeeeeeaaah, that was it." Suddenly she seemed to interrupt herself. "Well, hi there! I'm Subaru Nakajima" she said, then turned to address each other passenger as she listed them off. "And these are my sisters Ginga Nakajima, Nove Nakajima, and Dieci Nakajima!"

At the mention of their names, Ginga smiled, Nove shot her arm up quickly and barked "hi!" and Dieci sort of continued just sitting there. And meanwhile, Bathory began to wonder about the four sisters. Siban families never really got that big. He could remember a few three-child families, but he had a hard time remembering one that had four. He didn't mention it out loud though, and instead, he just continued to smile in front of the Nakajimas.

"Alright then," he said. "Do you know if we're leaving now?"

"We can't leave now" shouted Subaru. "We're not all here yet."

Upon hearing this, the emotion ran from Bathory's face. "Hang on," he asked, leaning forwards. "All?"

As if they were on cue, two more girls piled into the very-much-full boat, and over the shouts of Subaru greeting them as "Wendi" and "Deed", Nove scooted herself over to free some room, scrunching Bathory up against the wall of the transport in the process. Sure, there was a small bit of open room before, but Nove had really squeezed every bit of free space out of the seats as she could to let one of the new girls with hair a bit pinker than Nove's sit next to her.

Meanwhile, several thoughts went through Bathory's mind. The first one was "Wait, which one sat down with us here? I can't even keep track of them anymore". The second was "Ow ow ow ow ow ow" and the third was "please let us just leave and get to the facility so I can stop being crushed". Unfortunately, over those thoughts, he heard something that sent chills down his spine.

"Hey, Deed?" asked Subaru. "Are Sein and Otto coming?"

The brown haired girl nodded. "They were right behind us."

Bathory screamed internally. There was no room as it was! If the TSAB wanted to fit this many people on one transport, they should've brought a bigger vessel! And if these girls were all just planning a field trip, then maybe Bathory should try to just escape this packed pit and find transport with a bit more room. However, despite her smaller stature, Nove seemed to be absolutely rooted in place. Bathory lightly pushed on her only enough to realize that she wasn't going to budge. And then, he didn't even care anymore when two more girls arrived and tried to squeeze their way into the transport. One of them was Sein, and one of them was Otto, but none of them had room.

Finally, the doors to the vessel were shut and locked. In this case, they were more used to prevent the mass of girls from spilling out the back that to prevent anyone from escaping. Nine people had managed to 'fit' into the small space, with varying degrees of success. Some of them were more pressed for room than others. Nove moved over a little more, and the Siban mage to her left felt more and more like by the end of this, he'd have the thickness of a piece of paper. Wincing, he managed to quietly get out a few words.

"And...and so I take it...you're all sisters?"

Nove was the only one that heard him, and she answered proudly. "Yup! We're all sisters!"

"And this... this Cinque...is she your sister too?"

"Yup! We'll finally all be together again."

Bathory weakly nodded. "That...that sounds exciting."

Nove turned back and rejoined the conversation with all the other girls, and Bathory again began to wonder about a few things. If the rest of the group and this 'Cinque' really were all sisters, and really were all related, then that only meant that some lucky man must have been very, VERY busy in his heyday. Part of Bathory wanted to offer a toast to that man, but he also wondered how a man like that could have survived his escapades. And not to mention if there were any other Nakajimas that just weren't tagging along...

Either way, the trip to the detention center seemed to take much longer than it should have, but finally, the boat slowed and docked once again. The doors were opened, and sure enough, the mass of sisters almost spilled out of the back onto the ground. After they had gotten out, only Bathory remained, lying on the floor and trying to get his breath back. It took him a while, but he managed to get himself up and walked out onto the structure that was surrounded on all sides by the ocean. He looked back behind him, and while of course the massive main office of the TSAB was visible, almost nothing else from Cranagan could be seen over the blue abyss.

Hearing his name, the new member of the program turned around to see another guard waving him over. Bathory surveyed the ocean one more time before turning around and complying as he was led into the facility. As usual, the front room of the building was laid out like a standard lobby, but on the other side from the front entrance, large windows revealed a massive grassy area with hills and trees and a very natural landscape that was surrounded by the actual interior areas of the facility. And a storm of voices that couldn't possibly be missed told Bathory that his fellow passengers were all gathered in front of a desk, hunching over a slightly flustered worker.

"Girls, please," he said, "there's a bit of paperwork that still needs to be done. Please give us a little more time."

"What do you mean more time?" asked Nove loudly, slamming her hands down on the desk. "How much time? Get it done in the next ten minutes or else!"

"Nove, please" said one of the other girls, the one with almost spiky brown hair. Bathory looked on, trying to remember which one that was. Was she Wendi? Or...or was she Deed? Or...or...or one of the others? Bathory couldn't even keep them straight anymore. But either way, she gently took her place in front of the desk and spoke much more calmly than her fiery sister.

"We will wait patiently for our sister's release" said Otto. "However, we would like to know what time her paperwork would be completed."

"W...wi...within the hour! She'll be out soon!" cried the worker, still frightened by a couple of the girls' piercing gazes.

"Then we will let you work on that. Thank you." Otto moved to the side, and the desk worker finally noticed Bathory across the lobby. His arm shot up as he cried out, still a little fearful of the crowd in front of him.

"Excuse me! I'll check you in over here!"

Bathory walked over to the desk as Nove leaned back in.

"Paperwork" she muttered to the desk worker.

Otto held her sister back, and Bathory awkwardly walked through the crowd that had parted for him. He wasn't exactly afraid of them, but he just felt sort of...obtrusive. Like he was just barging through these established groups. Still, he reached the desk and spoke to the worker.

"Hi, I'm Bathory Kardenis. I'm a new arrival in the rehabilitation program."

The worker quickly and almost frantically began to look through the records related to Bathory. "Uhuh, mmm, yeah, everything checks out." He held out a keycard for the other man to take. "You will be staying in room 421, and we should begin-"

"HEY!" shouted Nove excitedly. "That was my room!"

Both Bathory and the desk attendant flinched noticeably, and the worker continued speaking rapidly. "Well, you should report back here at 5 PM and we will begin your orientation. Until then, well, someone will come by to escort you to your room, and then you may tour the center, if you'd like..."

In the back of the group by the desk, Ginga smiled. "Nove, if you would, could you please escort Bathory to his room? You know where it is best."

The fiery girl piped up again. "Sure thing!"

For the first time, Bathory really wondered what he was getting himself into. He slowly turned around, holding his right hand out. "Hi, Nove" he said apprehensively. "I already introduced myself, but, uh..."

Nove met the new arrival's gaze, and an energetic smile formed across her lips. She swung her right hand around to meet Bathory's and slammed her hand into his, not so much shaking it as playing baseball with it. Bathory winced again and noticed that behind Nove, one of the other sisters was staring at him with an absolutely deadpan expression on her face. And while Dieci didn't mean anything by that since that was her normal face 95 percent of the time, Bathory felt as if he had suddenly developed a strong connection with Wanda or Sam or whatever her name was. 'I can't believe I have to put up with this either' Bathory thought she was saying, and he couldn't help but nod at her in agreement. He assumed that she was there with him in this madhouse that seemed to form around him.

"Alright, let's go" said Nove, and she held on to Bathory's hand with her own as she headed over to the grassy area. He pretty much had to go at her pace, and her pace was very quick. She led him back out into the sunlight and recited what she could remember from when she went through the program.

"Okay, welcome to the Time Space Administration Bureau rehabilitation program. You are here because 'who you are is not determined by what you have done, but what you will do'. That was the motto, I think. Or something like that. But here in the program, you will learn how you can give back and how you can stay in control. How you can do things for good and not...and not for evil."

Nove seemed to fault a little bit, and as she continued, her words seemed to have a bigger and bigger impact on herself. "Because...because you don't have to be limited to what you think you are. You're...you're...you're not just a weapon, and you can do so much more than you think you can..."

Bathory felt like he should step in. "Well, my situation was just a bit weird, that's all. I used to be an officer, but things kind of got out of hand, I guess I could say. I'm hoping to just get right back into the TSAB once I'm done here."

That seemed to help Nove recover from whatever had just happened, and she went right back to her regular self. "You will be expected to attend seminars and take part in group exercises while you're here. And don't groan about it - no one likes a moper. As you progress, they'll let you go around a little more freely, and they'll lower your limiter. By the end, you should have it off."

When Nove mentioned the limiter, Bathory looked down at it again. Currently, it was on full power, and Bathory's linker core was locked down completely. It was like he never had one in the first place.

"It's such a weird feeling" he said. "I haven't been locked down like this...well...ever. How long does the program go?"

Nove thought for a second. "Well, it depends on what you did. Most of us had a six month program, except for Cinque. We tried to change her mind, but she asked for no pity. She told them to give her as long a sentence as they felt she deserved." Nove scratched the back of head and laughed. "And so they gave her eight. But you? I don't know, two months, maybe four?"

Bathory looked back down at the limiter. It was seriously such a weird feeling that he wasn't quite used to. It wasn't just the feeling of not being able to channel magic, but of being weakened like this. He'd been living as a B rank, and then an A rank, and then an A plus rank, then AA minus, then AA regular for so long that he couldn't imagine being only a C or a D. It was like losing an arm and then still trying to use it when it wasn't there anymore. He was his magic, and now it was under the control of someone else. If he didn't have AA rank magic, then he didn't really have anything. And right now, it was gone.

He looked back up at Nove only to see her looking off somewhere else. Bathory followed her gaze, and she seemed to be looking at a tree. Or maybe she was looking at a girl with white hair and an eye patch that was sitting under the tree.

Nove smiled widely again and finally let go of Bathory's hand. "Speaking of Cinque..." she said, and then ran off towards the girl. She cried the girl's name, and Cinque looked up at her. When Nove covered the distance, she hoisted the smaller girl up and spun them both around in a circle.

"Cinque! We're all waiting for you. Why aren't you out there?"

The white haired girl didn't seem to mind the odd treatment she was getting. "Nove," she replied, "I was told that someone would come get me when it's time. Is that why you're here?"

Surprisingly to Bathory, who had caught up to his tour guide, Nove put Cinque down and answered her sister truthfully. "No...I was escorting this guy..." she pointed to Bathory, and Cinque quickly looked over at him. He awkwardly waved again, and Cinque turned her attention back to Nove, who kept going. "But I can take you up! Everyone really wants to see you!"

"I'll come out when someone comes to get me, Nove. It won't be much longer." Cinque looked back at Bathory. "Continue taking him to his room as you were."

Nove paused for a little bit, but she finally relented. "Okay. I'll do that. But I'll be right back!" She reached back, grabbed Bathory's hand again, and resumed dragging him off to the living quarters. As they reached the other side of the outdoor area and went back indoors, Nove continued to tell Bathory about the program.

"Once you get far enough into the program, you can help out at the offices and assist in small jobs on the TSAB complexes."

"Like what?" he asked as the two headed up the stairs and through the hallways.

"Ohh, let's see...well, one option that's always a hit is loading up things for the simulation training facility."

She noticed Bathory seem to stop in place, and she turned around to see an awed expression on his face. The Midchildan city simulation was also legend just for how big and how detailed an area it could make. Bathory only ever had small simulated areas to train in, with none being bigger than an average warehouse size. But this one could make whole city blocks! It was enormous! It was unfathomable! And he might get to operate it!

Nove laughed. "Like I said, everyone hopes they get that. Maybe they'll pick you. I don't know." She pulled Bathory along again, and soon they reached the door to room 421. Its new inhabitant unlocked the door, and he stepped into the fairly barren room. It was pretty much like most rooms for members of the bureau - there was a bed, a closet, a desk, a chair, and not much else.

"Well, this is it" said his tour guide, following him in. "You said you were already in the TSAB, so it's just normal for you, right?"

Bathory nodded. "Yeah, it's just like normal." What he didn't say was that by way of having safety, it was automatically better than the alleys and parks he had been sleeping in for much of the past sixteen months. He wouldn't cry if the pillow was a bit scratchy or if the mattress was a bit stiff.

"Then I'll leave you to it. Go do whatever" said Nove, stepping back out of the room. She rushed back down the halls and left Bathory alone.

Leaving the door open, Bathory pulled the chair out from under the desk and sat in it. He sat in it, and he was calm, and life wasn't asking him to run from anything or force him to do anything. He could do what he wanted again. He could sit there if he wanted, or he could wander the halls a little more if he wanted. His life was back under control. He took a deep breath, thinking about how just a week and a half ago, he was staring out of a window, telling Efra that he'd be dead by the end of the day...

Efra. Bathory suddenly thought about her again. And he realized for the first time that her examination would have come and gone by now. Did she pass? Did she fail? It hadn't really concerned him as he was fighting for his own life, but now that he had time to spare, he really hoped she'd been successful. It would be too tough on her if she failed. Bathory looked down at Aphelion, knowing he could get the answer if he wanted - and he did want to know the answer. But still, he dragged the process out, almost worried about what he'd find.

"Aphelion," he asked, "how...how much are you locked down? What can you see?"

[**I HAVE FULL ACCESS TO ALL THINGS THAT ARE ALLOWED FOR CIVILIAN VIEWING - HOWEVER, I AM CURRENTLY BEING MONITORED FOR THE DURATION OF THIS PROGRAM**]

"So...so you can see who's on the TSAB?"

[**AFFIRMATIVE - I AM GRANTED CLEARANCE TO THE PUBLIC PROFILES OF ALL TSAB OFFICERS**]

Bathory dawdled. He'd be able to see if Efra made it. That would be available to him. And he definitely wanted to see her profile if she had succeeded to know that she succeeded - but a small slimmer of doubt, of 'what if she failed', of 'what would I do' made him take longer than he needed to. Finally, he forced himself to go forwards.

"Aphelion, search the TSAB database for Efra Crawmer."

And now that Aphelion would return with an answer, Bathory wondered why it had ever been so hard to ask for. There was no going back - his device would tell him whether Efra had passed or not, and now all he could do was wait.

[**MY SEARCH HAS BROUGHT UP ONE RESULT FOR THAT NAME, MY MASTER - WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO OPEN IT**]

Bathory let out a huge sigh of relief. "Yes, Aphelion" he said. "Please open it."

He set his device down on the desk, and a projected screen appeared from it in front of him. On it was a standard TSAB profile for the girl who had helped his get through those last, hardest weeks of being on the run. In the top-left corner was a picture of her, and she smiled as if none of what happened to her had happened. As if she had gotten what she really wanted, despite the setbacks of her brother being arrested and her closest friend being a façade of someone else. Or maybe she used that all to inspire her - maybe she worked to pass the exam because of what happened, not in spite of it. Anyways, a huge weight lifted from Bathory's chest, and he knew that she at least got part of her happy ending.

Thinking of what he said that morning caused Bathory to think back across that entire day. He remembered that morning, he remembered fighting Fate, he remembered being speared through the chest, and he even kind of remembered grasping at the Enforcer while Shamal looked over him. But he was somewhat bothered by the fact that somewhere in there, he had a missing piece. Continuing to focus on it, the ground mage stood back up, closed the screen that his device projected, and left his new room, locking it behind him. He wandered over to the large windows that looked down at the center area of the Maritime Detention Center. Through them, he noticed the red hair of his tour guide running back to her sister, but there were much bigger things on his mind.

He had died - that was for sure. Shamal had told him about how he died, and how he somehow came back. And Bathory was absolutely sure that something had happened to him during that, that his mind went someplace, but like a dream, the events had disappeared from his memory by the time he fully woke up. Looking out the window, he kept going over those moments, trying his hardest to remember what he saw. He was in Midchilda, being rushed through the halls, and then something happened, and then he was in the room with Shamal. What was that something? What happened? He wanted to know so badly because every time he tried, there was a small bit that he indeed remembered.

Kaisa. No more than that. It was something involving her, but he just couldn't reimagine it. But she was involved, somehow, and Bathory just wished he could remember exactly WHY he thought of her when he thought of him dying. He leaned forwards and rested his head on the window, letting his eyes close. The weirdest part of this mystery wasn't just that he thought of her and he didn't know why, but that he had this unexplainable feeling that she was watching him. Was she seeing his life through his eyes, or was she just keeping her gaze on him from high above, or what? What was she doing? Bathory wanted to make more sense of it, but at the moment he just couldn't.

"Hey Kaisa," he said out loud, "if you're listening to me, then...uh...then everything turned out pretty well, I'd say. I got a few opportunities I never thought I'd get, and...and I'm going to do this. From there, I don't really know yet, but something will happen."

He opened his eyes and looked back out the window. Again, he couldn't do much but just let the future happen and see where it took him. Even though he didn't exactly know anybody on Midchilda, and even though he was almost starting over, he felt like he was wrapped in a tight blanket of support from the bureau here. They wanted him to get better. They wanted him to go on. He was offered some solace in the loose friends he made on the streets of Siba, but none of them could provide as strong a home, as great the support, or as clear the future as he has been given here.

Siba was still Bathory's home, and in the last few days, General Parkensine had reluctantly admitted that perhaps his actions and judgment were clouded, and that perhaps Bathory wasn't the aggressor in the incident, but Bathory had felt like a stray for so long that he needed the support that was offered to him here. What he'd been given back wasn't just his freedom, but his time. He had time again to think, to act, and to clearly decide. To decide on what he would do, and to act by heading off again in a random direction, walking unperturbed through the halls of the complex.

* * *

_my blood grows thin, this path now ends  
my wits turn dull, heart bled to null  
the void inside, as deep as wide  
this time now ends, new time begins  
and a part of me disipates  
all inside, now released  
my path now ends where paths begin-  
the ocean._

Destroy Judas - Drown

* * *

**A/N: **Aaaaaand scene. 19 chapters. What a nice, round number!

Thank you so much to everyone who read through this. I have to say, it was very enjoyable not only writing it but seeing the response to it. Again, I know fanfic usually is about telling stories that are slightly more connected to the source material, but again, this started inwards and just kind of...grew to the side.

Once again, I hope you all could see where I was going with this. Sure, I made an OC with background. Whoop de doop. But hopefully I also provided a bit of a different situation than maybe you've seen before in this universe, and it was hopefully interesting to see. I know some people may be going "well why does this random guy get so much attention" but I promise that after this all your canon characters go back to their every day lives and everything returns to normal. For a little bit. It may be obvious now, I've got more in mind.

So, here's what I'm kind of planning: My guy's on Midchilda now. Yaaaaaay. And through the whole story, I've kind of sort of been dropping hints that his outtake on things would go against the more 'friendly-I-guess' opinions of the Midchildan TSAB. He hasn't been instructed to give criminals nearly as much of a chance as the Midchildans do, and 'mercy' wasn't really a concept that his planet's TSAB knew. So imagine if he was instilled back into the TSAB, only to quickly start shocking everyone with his actions. And what if that girl from chapter 7 made it to Midchilda as well, and what if Bathory did his best to 'take her under his wing' to keep her away from becoming influenced by Nanoha and such? Even if that's not what she wants at all? And, of course, the Siban TSAB hates combat cyborgs. They're artificial, unnatural, and can only do what they do because they're machines. They don't deserve at all to be treated with any semblance of respect or decency. And so, of course when Bathory finds out the truth about the Nakajimas, oooooohhhhh that's going to be fun :). Basically, yes, I am that guy.

And if you're worried, don't be, because I'm more than willing to make my OC absolutely wrong. To take the side that's unpopular for a reason. And it's all in the nature of exploring some things even more, things that I couldn't really do without throwing someone new into the mix. So, I'm spoiling a lot, but I think it would be interesting to see. Only problem is that everything about it is still very loosely held together at this point, so I'll need to keep working on it. If it sounds interesting to you, tell me. And if it doesn't, well, it's optional. RtS was the story I really wanted to write, but the continuation isn't quite at that level.

Other things I'm thinking of, if any sound interesting: Jail, Uno, Tre, Quattro, and Sette stage a prison break on Orbital Prison 6 or whatever it is, I'll check for real if I do it. Fate, of course, has to head over and stop it. It will absolutely one hundred percent NOT be call Jailbreak and do not EVEN THINK of suggesting that as a name. I will watch the movie "Lockout" as inspiration literally tens of times before beginning, and I will of course make sure that Quattro is as assholish as possible, because that's just hilarious to me.

And/or: I was mostly kidding about "Teana tries to teach Subaru about investing in her future", but maybe it would be entertaining as a one-chapter thing. Perhaps I could do a general collection of single-chapter hopefully-funny things like those. I probably should do one just for dropping a long story about oh sees and stuff on everyone like this.

But one final thanks for reading, everybody. If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them. Also, don't you hate it when song lyrics that really fit the actual moment in the song just look emo as hell when you type them out? "Buy Destroy Judas' album" is what I'm saying. It's on bandcamp for "pay what you want" and it's great.


End file.
